Familiars of the Void
by Redrover117
Summary: Following Naruto's defeat of Pein he is summoned to Tristain without warning by none other than the lovely Tiffania. New friends and old enemies surface as the factions of three worlds collide and history takes a much stranger turn. This is a Harem fic.
1. Destiny

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter1: Destiny

**Konan's Hideaway**

Naruto stared down at the defeated Deva Path as Konan started wrapping him in layers of paper for transport and ultimately burial in Amegakure no Sato. Naruto remained silent for as he thought over all that had happened and what Pein, what _Nagato_ had said to him before his death.

"You're taking him too?" Naruto asked her.

Konan nodded as she kept her eyes on the body, "this Deva Path was constructed from Yahiko's corpse...he was someone very special to us."

"So that's Yahiko," Naruto mused before turning his head towards the blue-haired woman. "What about you? I don't want to think that you'd just return to the Akatsuki..."

"I'm through with Akatsuki," she responded venomously. "Yahiko and Nagato were everything to me; Yahiko's dream and Nagato's dream...if they've entrusted their dreams to you then you are their inheritor and the only one capable of fulfilling their wishes. Nagato believed in you so I will too; you have Ame's support Uzumaki Naruto."

_If I can't find the answer then it will be up to you to do so._

_I will believe in you Uzumaki Naruto._

"The name Naruto and the guts to never give up...that's what Nagato and Ero-Sennin gave me. I won't fail them...and I won't fail you," Naruto told her.

Konan let a small smile grace her features and handed him some paper flowers, "then take these...I hope for you that these flowers of hope will never die."

Naruto smiled as he watched her disappear in a swirl of papers; after she had gone he placed the flowers on the ground near the center of the battlefield where they would remain as a memorial to the heroes who have fallen. The moment she left, he stared down at the paper flowers for what felt like an eternity before turning away and started walking in the general direction of the crater that used to be his home.

During the walk his thoughts couldn't help but drift to the people he had failed and he was a little hesitant to return to them after all that had happened. He may not be the sharpest kunai in the pouch but he had become an expert on human nature and knew that he would most likely be blamed for the Akatsuki attack on Konoha just like he was blamed and hated for the Kyuubi's attack sixteen years ago.

And then there was that whole business with the 'masked man' his father had spoken of, supposed the man behind the Kyuubi's attack and most likely behind Pein's too. All things considered if he wasn't a Shinobi of Konoha then the Akatsuki wouldn't have attacked and he wouldn't have come so close to releasing the Kyuubi. Sometimes he thought that things would have been better if he was never there...

Almost as a reply to the thought, the ground lit up around him and forcing him to cover his eyes. "What the-" he yelped as he disappeared into the light.

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

Hiraga Saito AKA Saito Chevalier de Hiraga was originally from a world called Earth which only had a single moon. A year ago he was summoned to this world with no name other than the 'Magic World' he had called it by his 'master,' a member of nobility called Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. When he first arrived the only thing he wanted to do was go back to his homeworld however as time went on he eventually developed feelings for Louise and decided to stay to be with her.

During his time on this world he'd fought in the recent war between the Kingdom of Tristain and the floating island nation of Albion. At the end of the war he fought against an army of seventy thousand with nothing but a sentient sword and died in order for his now wife Louise to live. He was later resurrected by the half-elf Tiffania whom used her mother's ring to restore his life and body. He then returned home to the academy and reunited with Louise.

Because of his actions during the war he was rewarded by the Queen Henrietta whom made him a nobleman and Vice Captain of the Knights of Ondine. After being sent on a mission to recover both the half-elf Tiffania and his powers of Gandalfr he eventually returned to the Magic Academy with Louise and Tiffania. The latter of which had decided to join the academy to learn how to control her own magic and more importantly, to make friends.

So it was during evening practice that the story begins with Saito and the Captain of the Ondine Knights: Guichi de Gramont, another veteran of the war were locked in combat. The other Ondine Knights were also sparring against each other however these two were recognised by everyone as the best swordsmen at the academy though Saito was known as the best swordsman because of his unique powers.

"Guichi, is that all you've got?" Saito grinned holding his sentient sword, Derflinger in both hands.

The blond-haired knight, Guichi simply grinned back and held up a rose which quickly turned into a sword. "My speciality is earth magic," he lunged forward forcing Saito to step back and parry the oncoming strike.

Further away a large number of female mages, their classmates stood watching and cheering. Among them were the stunningly beautiful Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst, a fire user from the neighbouring allied country of Germania and Montmorency Marigarita la Fere de Montmorency, a water user native to Tristain.

"Recently they are just playing this knight game from morning to night," Montmorency commented. "Yet they still dare to call it practice."

"It looks fun so it's okay, right?" Kirche asked amused. "Well here is a person who is unsatisfied," she added turning her gaze on the pinkette beside her.

"What?" Louise scoffed.

"I'm not blaming you," Kirche shrugged. "Saito is just busy with the knight's squad every day."

"I-I don't really feel unsatisfied," Louise stammered. "I admit we returned from the war safely with great difficulty, but we do not have time to talk properly. Although it's not like I don't understand," she muttered the last part and turned away.

"Saito!" a female voice called, catching theirs and everyone else's' attention.

"Tiffa?" Saito blinked as she approached. _Everyone _stopped to stare, mesmerised at both her academy uniform and more importantly the sheer size of her bust. Seriously, how the hell did that girl not have back problems?

"Saito," Tiffania smiled as she approached, only to trip over a discarded sword on the ground and fall on top of Saito.

Silence...

"Why is it always Saito?" one of the knights cried.

"It's painful...Tiffa," Saito tried to breath but the magnificent bust was pressing down on his head, stopping all circulation.

"Sorry, I am so..." she quickly got off of him and after making sure he was breathing again he stood up.

"Its okay, it's okay," Saito reassured. "Besides that, have you decided to join the academy?"

"Yes," Tiffa nodded with a smile. "It is all because Saito encouraged me to be brave...though I must keep it a secret that I am half-elf, okay?"

"Don't worry," Saito smiled back. "I made a promise right? I will protect you."

"What are you smiling for? That dog," Louise gritted her teeth as she watched on.

"If she's going to learn magic then she should try summoning a familiar," Guichi spoke up as his sparkling illusion surrounded his form. "I will of course offer my services as a tutor to this lovely lady, as a noble I guarantee you will have your familiar by the end of the week."

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you Guichi?" Saito asked with a smirk causing Guichi to face-fault.

"You're ruining my introduction here," Guichi waved him off.

"Summon a familiar?" Tiffa asked.

"Yes, all nobles have one," Guichi nodded.

"Besides me," Saito added.

"Technically that sword of yours is you're familiar even if you didn't summon it," Guichi countered.

"_I prefer the term partner, thank you very much," _Derflinger said indignantly.

"What must I do to summon one?" Tiffa asked the question.

"I'll teach you tomorrow," Guichi replied.

"It's getting late," Saito said looking up at the now darkened sky. "Everyone pack up, we're calling it a day."

* * *

The next morning Saito woke up in bed with Louise at his side and sighed at remembering the things that had happened over the last few months. He sat up and turned away knowing that Louise was always asleep at this time. He stood and quickly got dressed before heading towards the door. Once at the door he looked over and smiled at Louise's sleeping form as he remembered their brief 'non-wedding' before the final battle of the last war.

"I'm going," he whispered and turned away.

Louise's eyes snapped open at his words and she bolted from the bed. "Wait Saito!" she shouted and dashed towards him, tackling him to the ground. "Where do you plan on going without your master's permission?" she questioned.

"Going where? To practice with the Knight Squad of course," he answered as he recovered. "Yesterday and the day before yesterday were also the same, right?"

"You should report once a day," Louise told him.

"Yes yes," Saito nodded. "I'm going to practice now, master," he made to stand only for her to pull him back down to the floor.

"Wait, I haven't finished yet," Louise started but Saito quickly pushed her off of him.

"Why are you angry so early in the morning?" Saito asked her.

"I'm not angry," Louise denied.

"Then what is it?" Saito asked further.

"Hm...I want..." she said nervously.

"What do you want?" Saito asked again.

'_I want you to accompany me more, just like before,'_ Louise thought but didn't say the words. _'Why don't you notice it, you slow dog.'_

"What?" Saito asked her after a moment of silence.

"Come...come back earlier," Louise said finally.

"Have you got something to do?" Saito asked confused.

"Yes," Louise nodded and he sighed.

"Got it," Saito said as he stood up. "I will come back earlier today," he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Saito arrived at the training ground to find the rest of the Ondine Knights there along with most of the male academy students and even a few females. In the center were Tiffa and Guichi going over the summoning spell with the other knights adding in their own input once in awhile.

"How's it going so far?" Saito asked as he approached.

"Oh Saito," Guichi acknowledged. "She's just about ready to start the summoning...whenever you're ready milady."

"Saito..." Tiffa started.

"You'll do fine Tiffa," Saito nodded with a smile.

"My name is Tiffania Westwood," Tiffa started and the ground around her began to glow blue. "The pentagon which holds the five powers, in front of my familiar and I, open the gate."The light expanded and a large circle appeared on the ground in the shape of pentagon with a star in the center. "Appear before me! My familiar!"suddenly a green sphere of energy appeared in front of her which everyone recognised as a portal.

"Is that supposed to happen?" one of the knights asked confused.

"Not normally, no," Guichi replied honestly.

"I've seen it happen before," Saito said, catching everyone's attention. "When Louise summoned me...the second time."

"W-wait—you're not saying that-" Guichi started as a figure exploded out from the green portal and knocking Tiffa to the ground. The portal collapsed a second later and a loud groan as the figure. He had blond hair, blue eyes and wore a black jumpsuit with numerous orange patches on it.

"It's...a human," Kirche said in surprise.

"_What the hell just happened?" _the newcomer asked as he pushed himself up and felt something soft in his hands. _"What the hell?" _he looked down and saw that he was on top of a rather beautiful girl around his age and his hands were on her...oh shit. He immediately jumped off and raised his hands in defence. _"Please don't hurt me; I didn't know what I was doing or where I am."_

"_You speak Japanese?" _Saito asked.

"_Japanese? Who are you and where the hell am I?"_ the newcomer asked.

"_I'm Saito...it's kind of hard to explain where you are,"_ Saito replied.

"Saito? Can you understand what he's saying?" Guichi asked.

"Yeah, he's speaking Japanese," Saito nodded.

"I can speak your language too," the newcomer spoke up in perfect French. He blinked and frowned afterwards. How did he know how to do that? "My name is Uzumaki Naruto...now where the hell am I and which one of you summoned me?"

"You know you were summoned?" Saito questioned.

"Yeah, I know the feeling and that was definitely it. A little warning would have been great though," Naruto replied.

"Well you're kind of...on another world," Saito started. "Tiffa here was trying to summon a familiar...she ended up summoning you...not really sure how since the last human to be summoned was me."

"...So I'm no longer in my world anymore," Naruto commented. "Like I'd believe that, who the hell do you think I am?"

"This world has two moons," Saito added.

"...Seriously?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence.

"Unfortunately I am," Saito shook his head.

Dozens of thoughts were swimming through Naruto's head at this; the first was denial at being in an entirely different world and the next was worry about the state of his friends back home. Then his eyes saddened at the realisation that even if he went home he would probably be blamed for Pein's attack and hated even more than he already was. Even if Nagato did resurrect the dead then he had to ask himself how many more people would die because of disease, hunger and thirst because their homes were destroyed.

Getting back was one thing but what if he actually succeeded in getting back?

"...Well I've got nothing to go back to anyway," Naruto stood up sadly before putting on a smile and holding out his hand towards Tiffa. "Sorry about knocking you down...I didn't really know what was happening...Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."

"Tiffania Westwood," Tiffa responded. "It was my fault for summoning you to begin with so please don't apologize."

"Do you agree to become her familiar?" Saito asked.

"What's a familiar?" Naruto asked curious.

"_Basically a servant though more akin to a partner,"_ Derflinger answered.

"...I don't answer to anyone," Naruto said simply.

"You won't answer to me," Tiffa responded. "I...I'm sorry about this, I'll send you back-".

"I'm not going back either," Naruto interrupted. "Alright I'll be your familiar but the moment I want to leave, then that's it, I'm gone."

"Being a familiar is kind of a lifelong commitment," Saito added.

"Then I'll take her with me," Naruto shrugged. "Either way it doesn't matter to me...not now at least."

"Tiffa, start the incantation," Guichi told the hat-wearing girl.

Tiffa brought her wand to Naruto's forehead where his hitai-ate was still worn and began the spell. "My name is Tiffania Westwood, pentagon which holds the five powers, bless this individual and make him my familiar," she then leaned in and kissed him full on the lips making his eyes go wide at the contact.

As she pulled away he felt a surge of chakra course through his coils that was not his own and neither was it the Kyuubi's. It was something else...something that made its way through the chakra coils with the only destination in mind being his eyes. He suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed backwards as his eyes shifted colour from blue to a darkened gray.

"I was expecting him to pass out...but where is his rune?" Guichi asked.

"His eyes," Saito replied as he knelt down beside the unconscious blond. He opened one of the blonds' eyes and saw that they were gray with circular lines around his pupils. "Come on, let's get him inside...I know personally what it's like to wake up after falling unconscious like that."

"Was this a mistake?" Tiffa asked the two.

"No...after everything that's happened to us I think everything happens for a reason," Saito told her. As both he and Guichi helped the unconscious Naruto into the academy another thought couldn't help but pass through his mind. _'Louise is a void mage and so is Sheffield's master...both of which have human familiars...so does this mean that Tiffa is a void made too?'_

**Author's Notes:**

I'm finally back from my holiday and I'm not starting updates again along with this new story. For those of who haven't already figured it out this is set at the start of season three Familiar of Zero and right after the Battle of Pain for Naruto Shippudan. Unlike other stories which have Louise summoning Naruto I've had Tiffa summon him instead long after Saito has already settled in as Louise's familiar. Be warned now that for the pairings both Naruto and Saito will have three girls each. I already have them picked out but I'll let you guess them as I keep updating this story.

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	2. Taking Names

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter2: Taking Names

**Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto's first thought upon opening his eyes was that he must have died because all he saw was an empty white void. He 'stood' up and looked around but saw nothing but emptiness. A sudden spike of pain in his eyes made him yelp and he fell to his knees as water seemed to appear 'below' him. He looked down and saw his reflection and more importantly his eyes...the Rinnegan.

"Still as unpredictable as ever Uzumaki Naruto," a familiar voice sounded from behind him. He turned his head in surprise and saw none other than Uchiha Itachi standing atop the water with his Sharingan still active.

"What the hell are you doing here Itachi?" Naruto demanded.

"Insurance," Itachi replied and approached him. Naruto fell into a stance and prepared to attack when Itachi held up his hand. "I mean you no harm...but I have something to give you...something you will need if this world...all worlds are to be saved."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked and suddenly his body froze. Itachi drew closer and pushed his fingers to the blonds' forehead.

"You will find out in due time...for now though you must continue to push forward...though Konoha is gone you must not give up. Pein-sama...Nagato...gave you a mission to establish true peace...you cannot fail in that quest," Itachi said as he pulled back and turned away. "He didn't give you the Rinnegan...that girl did when you were marked as her familiar...or should I say she awakened the Rinnegan within you...with a little help from me. You and Nagato...you are both members of the Uzumaki clan whom descend from the Rikudō-Sennin, the first holder of the Rinnegan."

"...Why do you care? After what you did to Sasuke...after what you've done to Gaara and me. Why do you care what happens to me now?" Naruto questioned.

"...The Uchiha clan were planning to take over Konoha...I was ordered to wipe them out...but I couldn't bring myself to kill my little brother. I had planned on waiting for Sasuke to grow strong enough to restore the Uchiha clan's honour by becoming a traitor and allowing him to kill me. Judging by my recent death at his hands I'd say I succeeded...however it looks like Akatsuki...or should I say Madara managed to get to Sasuke after all," Itachi explained.

"You're lying," Naruto denied. "If that were true then why did you join the Akatsuki?"

"Because I had nowhere else to go," Itachi replied simply. "My time is up...my chakra is fading...goodbye Uzumaki Naruto...last of the Senju clan," he faded into nothingness a moment later.

Naruto collapsed a few seconds later as his eyes started to burn and he clutched his chest as his breathing started to worsen. His last thought before darkness claimed him was that he definitely needed a good night's sleep.

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

Naruto awoke with a groan, catching the attention of Tiffa whom had just entered the room and rushed over to him. "Please don't try to move, you mustn't push yourself," Tiffa told him.

"I'm fine," Naruto said as he sat up. "What happened to me?"

"From what the others were saying the bond between us formed by for some reason it focused on your eyes instead of your hand," Tiffa replied.

"My eyes...the Rinnegan," Naruto sighed and looked around. He was lying in a double bed in what looked like a bedroom filled with unfamiliar furniture and Tiffa was sitting in the chair beside him. He pulled the covers off and let his legs fall do the side so he could stand only to notice that all he had on were his shorts. "Where are my clothes?" Naruto asked the hat-wearing girl.

"Erm...right here," Tiffa replied as she walked over to one of the draws and took out a set of familiar orange and black clothes.

"Thanks," he said as he took them from her and put them on.

"Are you...regretting becoming my familiar?" Tiffa asked him after he was dressed.

"...I'm not sure yet," Naruto replied honestly. "Ask me again later and I'll give you a different answer," he let out a long yawn before turned and heading for the door. "Is there any food in this place?" he asked as he opened the door.

"The cafeteria...I haven't been there myself yet," Tiffa admitted.

"Then let's go," Naruto smiled and closed the door behind them.

* * *

"No ramen...no ramen...why is there no ramen?" Naruto cried as sat down at the round table.

"Different world, different food," Tiffa smiled. "I-I might be able to make this ramen stuff if I knew the ingredients."

"Really?" Naruto asked hopeful.

"But I don't know how to make it," Tiffa said sadly.

"Now that you mention it neither do I," Naruto cried again remembering that he only ever cooked instant (three minutes) ramen.

"Miss Tiffania!" a male voice called out catching their attention. They were suddenly surrounded by a dozen of male students offering the half-elf girl different foods and drinks.

"How about you have one cup of my black tea?" another student asked.

"No...It's okay," Tiffa replied politely.

"Don't be so polite," another student said kindly.

"No...I really," Tiffa said nervously.

"Please go out with me," said another student.

"Alright, that's enough," Naruto stood up pushing them all away. "Ever heard of invasion of privacy? Get lost," he told them.

"Why you..." one of them growled out.

"Did you not hear me? Are you deaf? I said get lost," Naruto growled back.

"A peasant like you dares to talk that way to us?" the student sneered.

"This 'peasant' could kick all of your asses," Naruto responded with a smirk. Hey, after fighting Pein, destroying all six of his bodies and then confronting Nagato himself he felt like he could take on the world right now.

"Clearly someone needs to teach you your place, peasant," the student sneered and held up his wand. Naruto focused chakra to his eyes and they shifted into the gray circular chill of the Rinnegan.

"Stop! Please don't fight," Tiffa pleaded. "Just let it go...please."

"...Alright," Naruto sighed and turned away.

"Hey, don't you turn you back on me!" the student shouted after him.

"You're not worth my time," Naruto said over his shoulder, angering the students and walked away with Tiffa at his side.

"That wasn't very nice," Tiffa commented.

"Neither was pestering you but that didn't stop them," Naruto responded. "By the way, what's up with your ears?"

"M-my ears? How can you tell?" Tiffa asked surprised can clutched her hat.

"These eyes of mine are special," Naruto replied as they rounded a corner and stopped.

"...I'm half-elf," Tiffa explained. "My mother was an elf, she died when I was young and I get my ears from her."

"So why do you wear the hat? There must be a reason besides the obvious," Naruto inquired.

"...Elves are a race that opposed the humans of this continent for a long time," Tiffa continued. "My mother didn't believe in a god and neither do I so my mother sent me into hiding when the soldiers came for her. I've lived on my own ever since and only came to this academy recently because of the courage Saito gave me."

"...I thought I left all this prejudice crap behind," Naruto groaned and turned away.

"I'll understand if you don't want to be friends with me," Tiffa said as she looked down at the floor.

Looking at her saddened eyes he couldn't help but the feelings of loneliness from when he was younger and despite his reservations he decided to tell her about his own personal demons. If they were going to be partners then she needed to know about his past and the danger being around him posed to her and the others.

"...I never said I wouldn't be friends with you," Naruto said clearly. "So you're half-elf, so what? I know what it's like to be hated for something out of your control and others judging you because of that fact."

"...How?" Tiffa asked after a moment of silence.

"The day I was born a monster called the Kyuubi no Yoko, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts attacked my village and my father sealed it within me in order to save the lives of everyone else. Because of that everyone thought _I _was the monster reborn in human form and I spent the first twelve years of my life alone," Naruto answered. "When I became a Genin—a warrior—things got easier and people started accepting me but...no matter what I did and no matter how hard I tried it never seemed to be enough or make a difference."

"I'm sorry," Tiffa said sadly.

"We all have our demons," Naruto said simply. "Its how we deal with them that defines who we really are."

"...Thank you," Tiffa smiled and followed him.

* * *

"You are so impolite."

"What do you mean?" Tiffa asked backing away slowly from the three girls that cornered her.

"Do you know who she is? Beatrice Kuldenholff," one of the girls sneered.

"Miss Kuldenholff," the three girls said as one.

"Grand Duchy of Kuldenholff, Princess Beatrice," another girl introduced their leader as she stepped out from the shadows.

"Princess?" Tiffa asked.

"You have become the classmate of the Princess but you are never greeting her? What a crime; apologize now," the redhead ordered.

"Yes...yes, I'm sorry," Tiffa bowed unsure.

"This is meant to be an apology? Take off your ugly and dirty hat," Beatrice ordered.

"How about you leave her alone?" Naruto spoke up as he approached and pushed in front of them.

"And who are you?" Beatrice inquired almost uncaring.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he replied remembering to say his clan name last. "Go pick on someone else if you want to be a bully."

"How dare you," the girl in green sneered. "Do you know who you're talking too?"

"A better question would be do I care?" Naruto shot back. "What are you gonna do about it? Throw me in jail? I'd like to see you try..._princess._"

The girls were red-faced and Beatrice herself began to glare at the whisker-marked boy. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?" Beatrice demanded.

"Someone who can knock you off your pedestal," Naruto glared back.

"Naruto, please stop," Tiffa pleaded. "It's okay; really it is so please...can we just leave."

"...Fine," Naruto said over his shoulder and took her hand, pulling her away.

"This isn't over," Beatrice sneered and turned away along with the other girls.

"You got that right," Naruto muttered as he and Tiffa entered the courtyard.

"You know you really shouldn't antagonise people, especially her," a male voice spoke up, catching their attention.

"Guichi?" Tiffa asked.

"That girl is bad news, and hard to handle. Even if it's the same country, she is still a princess of an independent nation. Not only that but she is damn rich, and she brings her guards with her wherever she goes. They're called the Sky Knights," Guichi explained.

"So what? Why should I care?" Naruto questioned.

"They are the strongest Dragon Knights in Halkeginia," Guichi continued. "I don't want to have a conflict with them."

"I'll just kick their asses if they even look at Tiffa the wrong way," Naruto said with a shrug. "If they disturb you again then just tell me and I'll deal with it."

"Naruto..." Tiffa trailed off as they walked.

* * *

Saito sighed as he approached the door to his and Louise's shared room. Earlier he saw that Tiffa being bullied and was about to intervene when Naruto had jumped in to defend his 'master' if that's what you could call it. Ever since Naruto had showed up Saito had been thinking of the marking on his left hand and remembered the sight of Naruto's grey eyes, the 'Rinnegan' he had called it.

"Welcome back Saito, hurry, sit here, I will finish preparing dinner," Louise greeted in the cutest voice she could muster as he entered.

"Really? I'm starving," Saito smiled as he sat down at the dinner table. "What's the occasion?" he asked as she placed the last plate down on the table.

"N-no reason," Louise stammered.

"Louise...come on, you can tell me," Saito reasoned.

"I-I...I want you to take my..._you know_...tonight," Louise blushed at her own words.

"What are you...oh," Saito said catching on.

"I-If you don't want too-" Louise continued.

"Oh I want too," Saito interrupted. "It's just...I don't really have anything on me...I don't even think you can make them here, in this world."

"What do you mean?" Louise asked curious.

"I-I mean..._protection _from...well...making a baby," Saito replied.

"I don't care about that," Louise told him. "Stupid dog...I can't...I want to love you...we never really finished what we started back then...at the wedding during the war."

"Louise..." Saito stood up and stepped around the table.

He gently picked her up and carried her to the bed, leaving the untouched food on the table. He kissed her as he set her down and climbed on top. They started slow and steady at first but as more time went on it became clear that nothing was going to stop them this time. It wasn't long before they both were consumed in their passion...

**Author's Notes:**

I made a mistake before when I said I wasn't updating; what I meant was now that I'm back from holiday I can continue my stories now. This one was something I've been working on for awhile and is my fourth running fic at the present time. As for timing between updates, there are four weeks in a month and now I have four stories to update so that evens out.

Another Road not Taken

Naruto: Dragon Sage Chronicles

Stargate: Mass Effect

Familiars of the Void

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	3. Inquisition

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter3: Inquisition

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

The first thought that entered the mind of maid Siesta as she stepped into the room and looked around was disappointment. She knew this could happen but she had hoped it never would...all things considered, it wasn't entirely unexpected. The moment she saw both Saito and Louise in bed together, naked she knew that they had finally tied the knot.

When she first met Saito a year ago she knew he was different and had fallen in love with him after he saved her from Count Mott. She knew that without any magic she was next to useless compared to the other girls in his life but she still tried to get him to love her back. He cared for, of that she had no doubt but she knew a long time ago that his heart was claimed by Louise. Oh well...maybe he could claim her as a mistress...there was always that possibility.

"Such a waste," Siesta sighed as she looked down at the table full of food. "Miss Louise, you'll be late for class."

"I'm skipping class today," Louise responded with a groan and pulled the covers over her head.

"Siesta?" Saito asked as he turned over and his eyes widened when he saw her. "This erm...isn't...actually it's exactly what it looks like," there was no denying it now.

"Don't worry, I understand," Siesta smiled. "Still, I'd prefer if next time you include me," she turned away not noticing the blood that sprouted from his nose. She wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of sharing him but it was still better than nothing...there weren't that many good guys like him out there and she wasn't going to let him go because of this. If she couldn't be his wife then she was going to make sure she was his mistress, she promised herself that.

"Forget it," Louise said tiredly to Saito after Siesta left. "It's not happening as long as I'm an Aristocrat."

Those words would later come back to bite her...

* * *

'_I can't cause trouble for Naruto and the others,'_ Tiffa thought as she stood in outside the classroom door wearing a brown cloak with a razor pattern cut into the bottom. _'I must depend on myself and not rely on others to do something I must do.'_

"Miss Westwood? Miss Westwood?" she heard the teacher speak from the other side of the door. "Absent from class? Then..." Tiffa pushed to door open and stepped through. Gasps filled the air as she closed the door and moved to the front of the class. "Miss Westwood? What is that dress?" asked Chevreuse fearfully.

"Everyone, listen carefully to what I am about to say. This gown is my mother's relic," Tiffa spoke clearly.

"What are you talking about?" Chevreuse asked now terrified. "Just dessert residents wear this gown; is it possible that you are..."

"Yes," Tiffa nodded and removed her hood to reveal her hand and more importantly, her ears.

"She's an elf!" one of the girls in the class shouted and everyone immediately started to panic and back away including the teacher.

"Unforgivable," Beatrice muttered as she cowered under her table. "Just an elf, but more popular than me?"

"Please, calm down," Tiffa pleaded. "I just want to be friends with all of you."

"Liar! How can an elf be trusted by anyone?" demanded a brown-haired girl.

"It's true that elves were opposing Halkeginia's humans for a long time," Tiffa explained. "But my parents loved each other and granted me both human and elf blood. That's why-".

"Well, you said you are half-elf," Beatrice interrupted. "Then answer me, what god you believe in? Descent's Devil or the First Ancestor Bulimia?"

"That..." Tiffa mused. Truthfully she had never believed in either god and personally wasn't very religious. Neither of her parents was religious too which was one of the factors of her birth, hell it was the reason that they tried to stay out of the conflict between the elves and the humans as much as possible.

"If you want to be friends with us then that means we must believe in the same god," Beatrice smirked.

"I believe in neither of those gods," Tiffa declared.

"Oh?" Beatrice asked amused.

"I..." Tiffa closed her eyes as a certain memory flashed through her mind's eyes.

_The day I was born a monster called the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked my village and my father sealed it within me in order to safeguard the lives of everyone else. Because of that everyone thought I was the monster reborn in human form and I spent the first twelve years of my life alone._

'_Well not anymore Naruto,'_ Tiffa snapped her eyes open in defiance. "I believe in the Kyuubi no Yoko, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts," she declared.

"The what?" Beatrice frowned. She'd never heard of _that _god before—assuming it was a god—and anger flashed across her features when she realised that this _thing _was defying her. "Knights," she snapped and four of her Sky Knights jumped in through the window, appearing at her side. "So you don't believe in the First Ancestor Bulimia huh? Then as Grand Duchy of Kuchendolff; Sky Knights take away that woman," she ordered as she pointed towards the half-elf.

* * *

"What do you want?" Tiffa asked as she was thrown to the ground in the center of the courtyard with numerous students around.

"Inquisition," Beatrice grunted with a smirk. "I have the title of Bishop."

"She said Bishop?" muttered someone in the crowd. "Is it real?"

"Just prove your faith to me, the god's agent," Beatrice shrugged uncaring.

"I don't need too," Tiffa responded defiant as she stood. "I don't believe in your god or even the Descent Devil...the only god I believe in is the Kyuubi no Yoko."

"Who is this Kyuubi thing you keep mentioning?" Beatrice asked curious before shaking her head. "It doesn't matter...you have two choices. Either leave and go back to your countryside or die here."

"I can't go back," Tiffa smiled sadly. "I've always wanted to see the outside world and Saito and the others helped me see that dream come true. So I won't just give up and return to that cabin the woods."

"Just return when I tell you to do so," Beatrice said losing patience.

"How pitiful," Tiffa commented. "No...You're still a child," she sighed.

"If she wants to die then so be it, kill her now and be done with it," Beatrice ordered not knowing what else to do.

She had never had anyone defy her before and was unused to people actively going against her wishes. She didn't even realise what she had just told her knights to do before two of them rushed towards the half-elf with their swords drawn and ready to strike. She was about to call them off when an orange/red blur appeared from the side and sent her two knights crashing down at her side. Looking over she saw that Tiffa was in the arms of that boy from yesterday only now he seemed to be wearing a long red trench coat with black flames emblazoned on its bottom and his eyes were grey with circular lines around the pupil.

"N-Naruto?" Tiffa asked as the sage carried her to the edge of the courtyard and set her down against the wall.

"Stay back, I'll handle this," Naruto told her and she reluctantly nodded.

"Thank you," Tiffa said as he turned towards the Grand Duchy of Kuldenholff and her Sky Knights.

"What do you think you're doing, interfering like this?" Beatrice demanded. "You want to disturb the inquisition? Knights! Dispose of him!" the Knights charged as one, intending to carve him up where he stood.

"**Shinra Tensei," **Naruto said as his eyes glowed. The Knights were blown back and hit the far wall with dull thuds before falling to the ground unconscious.

"H-how did you-" Beatrice stammered in surprise at seeing her knights defeated so...effortlessly, and without a wand too!

"I may not be quite on Nagato's level but I do understand how the Rinnegan works," Naruto said as he raised his hand towards her. **"Bansho Tenin," **Beatrice yelped in surprise as she was suddenly lifted off of her feet and pulled towards the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki by an invisible force. He caught her as she approached and grabbed her head, forcing her to her knees as his eyes glowed. "Now open up your mind to me and show me what you hide."

"No..." Beatrice said before she went completely still.

Naruto let go a moment later and sighed. "So that's how it is," he shook his head and started walking away towards the now standing Tiffa. "You're not even qualified to be a 'messenger from god,' you fake."

"I-I have the Exequatur of Bishop at home," Beatrice stammered.

"I read your mind," Naruto said as he stopped at Tiffa's side and turned back to the young princess. "The special Exequatur of Romalia is needed to hold an inquisition, right? Even a _Bishop _is supposed to know that..."

"What does he mean?" one of the students asked.

"Misusing titles she doesn't have the qualifications for?" another added.

"Unbelievable," proclaimed one student.

"It has nothing to do with me," one of Beatrice's followers said.

"Me too," the other two followers added and they disappeared into the crowd.

"Miss Beatrice," Tiffa spoke to the thoroughly embarrassed Grand Duchy.

"What...what?" Beatrice backed away. "Don't come near me," she warned and fell down onto the grass. She raised her hands in defence, thinking that she was as good as dead now only for Tiffa to take her hand and smile.

"Let us become friends, okay?" Tiffa smiled.

'_W-why? After everything I've done—why would she want to be my friend?'_ Beatrice thought as she lost control of her emotions. Her facade completely fell and she openly cried.

'_Everything she did she was because she was lonely,' _Naruto thought as he stood off to the side.

He could understand acting out towards others in order for to gain recognition and escape the hell of loneliness. He'd done the same with his pranks as a kid and he ended up getting Iruka's attention and acknowledgement. This girl, Beatrice wasn't used to people treating her as a person, only as a 'Princess' even from her own Sky Knights.

He wondered idly if the real reason he was Tiffa's familiar was because she represented a mirror of himself in so many ways. She was a 'Princess' herself since she was Queen Henrietta's cousin while he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage. She wasn't quite human and neither was he despite how much his friends said they didn't care about the Kyuubi. Tiffa had grown up isolated from society because of what she was just the same as he grew up alone too. Her mother clearly looked after her before she died just the same as Iruka looked after him whenever he could. It didn't help that she was blond too...

Then there was the matter of Beatrice and her own mirror image. For a moment he was reminded of Gaara if only because he was also trapped in the hell of loneliness until he was defeated by Naruto himself. Now here, far from home he saw both his and Gaara's forms overlap Tiffa and Beatrice for a brief moment. He almost felt like he was looking into the past as Beatrice cried into Tiffa's shirt and remembered the look of fright on Gaara's face after their battle concluded and Naruto had pulled himself towards his defeated opponent. There were too many parallels between them with the sole exception being that Beatrice wasn't a psychopath like Gaara was before his defeat.

"The elf is so kind," one of Beatrice's former followers commented.

"Maybe I'll become her friend too?" suggested another former follower.

'_It looks like Tiffa's got a fan club,'_ Naruto thought with a sigh. _'It's just another day in my life, huh Nagato? Ero-Sennin?'_ he suddenly coughed blood into his hand.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Tiffa asked worried.

"Yeah...I think I just overdid it with the mind reading and everything," Naruto responded.

"You should go to the infirmary," Tiffa told him.

"But-" he started.

"No buts now go," Tiffa practically ordered.

"Alright, I'm going," he sighed in defeat and started walking back towards the entrance.

* * *

"I'm sorry for letting it go too far," Headmaster Osmond apologized.

"I was panic-stricken, I'm sorry," Chevreuse apologized also.

"It's okay," Tiffa said in understanding. "I feel that I'm able to make friends here."

"That's the best," Osmond nodded. "Although, I want to say the problem is over with...I have one last thing to ask."

"Yes?" Tiffa asked nervously.

"Are they real?" Osmond asked curious as he pointed at her breasts.

"Huh?" Tiffa blinked and her ears lowered.

* * *

Naruto lay in one of the beds surrounded by a curtain and sighed as he stared at his reflection in the nearby mirror. His eyes were hurting him every time he used them and the strain from earlier had—according to the nurse—caused internal bleeding. If it wasn't for his healing factor the strain alone would have killed him; how Nagato managed to survive so long while using it without something like the Kyuubi to fix the self-inflicted damage left him completely astonished.

When he heard Nagato's story of how he became Pein and fusing with something called Gedo Mazo which turned his body into what Nagato was during the confrontation in Konan's hideaway he thought that was the only self-inflicted injury he could get. Now though it appeared that the mere use of any of the Rinnegan's jutsu seriously harmed its user...how the hell did Nagato manage to fight Naruto during that battle with not only six bodies but create that 'small' moon in order to capture him was beyond anything he knew he was capable of at the moment.

He needed to train and master the Rinnegan's abilities if he was going to survive here. This power was just like the Kyuubi's; it was simply too much for the human body to handle, even one augmented by the Kyuubi's chakra. He had no delusions; he defeated Pein with a combination of his own skills and pure luck. As he was now, Madara could easily capture him and take the Kyuubi for himself whether Naruto liked it or not.

"Naruto?" a certain blond haired half-elf appeared and closed the curtain behind her.

"Tiffa?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Does it look fake?" Tiffa asked him as she rested her arms under her breasts.

"What?" Naruto asked as a blush settled on his face.

"Everyone says that my breasts are fake," Tiffa said solemnly. "The headmaster even asked me just now; there must be a reason...right? But I don't know..."

"Tiffa...what are you asking me to do exactly?" Naruto asked.

"This chest...can you touch it?" Tiffa asked blushing herself.

'_Damn you Ero-Sennin! I know you're behind this!'_ Naruto shouted in thought. "I-I-" he started.

"I can only ask help from you Naruto," Tiffa told him as she pushed him down on the bed. "That's why...please," she pleaded as her breasts wobbled slightly.

"W-well, if you really want me to do so..." Naruto stammered and brought his hands up to touch the magnificent orbs.

"What do you think Naruto?" Tiffa asked blushing. "The reason they look fake, do you get it?"

"Not...not sure...if I don't touch it properly," Naruto reasoned. _'Damn you Ero-Sennin! You did this to me!'_ he thought as he grabbed her shoulders and changed their position so he was on top and she was lying under him.

And suddenly the curtain was pulled aside...

"Excuse me but I need...to...talk to you," Beatrice trailed off and then blushed crimson upon seeing them.

"...Wait, this isn't what it looks like," Naruto said as his face reddened.

"Clearly I've caught you at a bad time," Beatrice said tersely as she turned away.

"You misunderstand!" Naruto exclaimed and grabbed her before she could leave.

"Hey! Let go of me!" the blond princess shouted as he pulled her onto the bed and pinned her like he did moments ago with Tiffa.

"Calm down and talk," Naruto said with unusual sternness.

Beatrice blushed and looked away as he held her arms down above her head. "Pervert," she muttered trying to be strong.

"Naruto, please don't hurt her," Tiffa said to her familiar.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Naruto responded. "What do you want Beatrice? You must have come here for a reason, so don't let this _misunderstanding _stop you."

"I-I came to apologize for what I did earlier," Beatrice stammered as he let go. "I caused you both a lot of grief...I'm sorry for everything."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto simply smiled.

"He's right, we're friends now after all," Tiffa added smiling also.

"F-friends?" Beatrice asked; the concept completely foreign to her.

**Author's Notes:**

I know that there are four Void Mages in the novels but I'm basing this story exclusively off of the anime series spanning all three seasons. I haven't read the novels so as far as I'm concerned there are only three Void Mages and their familiars. Tiffa was the only one to not summon a familiar in the books or the anime so I had her summon Naruto.

As for Naruto not going back to Konoha, before he left he heard from Nagato that everyone was resurrected but he also knows that Madara will be coming after him. The further away from Konoha he is then the safer his friends will be since Madara will be concentrating on finding him instead of hurting anyone else.

Even if he did go back then he feels he has nothing to go back to which is true despite what Kishi has done with the village. Pein came after them to get to Naruto so naturally they would blame him for the destruction of Konoha. That's what should have happened because it's in human nature to find a scapegoat following a great tragedy. It's true everyone was resurrected but how many people suffered from illness, disease and hunger after their homes were destroyed?

The Kyuubi did not react to Tiffa's magic-chakra the same way the Kyuubi didn't react to Itachi when he gave Naruto some of his power. The Kyuubi knows that given enough time the seal will weaken on its own and he'll get his chance to kill Naruto despite whatever power he may possess at the time.

As for Naruto telling Tiffa about the Kyuubi, that's simply because he doesn't care anymore, not after Pein. He feels that if he keeps secrets from his new partner then it will just be worse if she found out later. Better to tell her at the start before they get in too deep and she needed to understand the situation. I'm sorry if it feels rushed but I couldn't really think of anything else to put in without seemingly like I'm dragging it out. Also it gave Tiffa a new answer to Beatrice's religious question.

And then there's Sasuke...during the entire Pein arc I can't for the life of me remember a single time Naruto thought about him. It's true that he wants to bring Sasuke back but that will change soon, especially after what I have planned. Make no mistake, I don't like Sasuke but as far as I'm concerned he really doesn't matter at all in canon or in this story like Kishi seems to have made him out to be. He's a pawn of Madara just like Pein and just like Pein he will be beaten and Naruto will then move on to fight Madara. That's just the way it is...

I'm not ignoring Naruto's attachment to Konoha, it's just that as far as he's concerned he can't go back because Konoha was destroyed and he knows he'll be blamed for what Pein did. It's true that in canon he is praised for being strong but in this story he doesn't know that and thinks the worst of Konoha's people which is what he thought at the time before accepting Yami at the Falls of Truth.

_**Translation**_

Shinra Tensei = Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God  
Bansho Tenin = Heavenly Attraction of All of Creation

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	4. Just Another Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter4: Just Another Day

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

After the misunderstanding in the infirmary Naruto was released the next evening and took the two girls back to their rooms. He then met up with Saito after both Louise and Siesta left at dusk when the world's moons could now be seen. Saito led him to one of the courtyards where a number of tables stood on the grass.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Naruto asked as he sat down at the table.

"Yes," Saito nodded and sat opposite him. "I wanted to ask if you came from Japan in my world."

"I've never heard of Japan," Naruto replied.

"So you don't come from the same world as me?" Saito mused. "How many moons does your homeworld have?"

"Just the one," Naruto answered and looked up at the two moons hanging in the night sky. "The world I came from was ruled by ninja—a type of assassin—and governed by a leader called a Daimyo."

"I know what ninja are...your world sounds like Ancient Japan," Saito commented. "My homeworld isn't like that...at least not now...back in Japan they say everyone is equal and that no one is better than anyone else."

"Do you believe that?" Naruto asked seriously. Back in Konoha he'd grown up as the bottom of the barrel and worked his way to the top. Even so he still felt like Konoha would never accept him and allow him to become their Hokage. He'd always hated stuck up clans like the Uchiha and the Hyuga whom thought they were better than everyone else because of their status and bloodlines when he could barely get by with what he had.

"I don't know," Saito answered honestly. "I remember reading somewhere that some people are born great, some achieve greatness and some...have greatness thrust upon them."

"...Story of my life," Naruto sighed. Between being the Fourth Hokage's son, becoming a sage and being forced to contain the Kyuubi...he could certainly understand those words.

"Do you miss your home?" Saito asked him.

"...A bit," Naruto admitted. "But...before I came here my hometown was attacked and destroyed by a man called Pein. He was...he was a fellow student of my master...he was also a member of my clan...we both studied under the same master but he was corrupted by a man named Madara."

"One man destroyed an entire town?" Saito asked surprised.

"He reduced it to a crater," Naruto responded.

'_What did this guy use? A nuclear bomb?'_ Saito asked in thought.

"I fought him and beat him though I still don't have a clue how I won. It's all a blur now," Naruto continued. "After he died and his partner left, I was summoned here by Tiffa."

"I see..." Saito trailed off.

"What about you?" Naruto asked him.

"Nothing so exciting," Saito responded. "My world hasn't had any full-scale wars in seventy years and I was simply walking down the street before I was summoned here by Louise. It was _hell_ for the first few days because everyone treated me like I was beneath them but I kept proving that I didn't consider them superior at all."

"I bet they didn't take too kindly to that, huh?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"I ended up fighting Guichi and I won thanks to this," Saito said showing the mark on his hand. "Before I came here I had a rough understanding on how to use weapons from my homeworld...with this my body became...I guess superhuman would be the term and I could use any weapon without difficulty."

"_That's the power of Gandalfr," _Delfflinger spoke up. _"It allows him to use all weapons in existence just by touching it."_

"How advanced was your world, technologically speaking," Saito asked.

"Erm...well we had electricity and could build long bridges stretching for miles. Even a train," Naruto answered remembering his time in the Lands of Wave and Snow.

"So industrial age," Saito mused. "Sounds about the same for this world too...that's about three hundred years behind my world."

"Three hundred?" Naruto blinked.

"My world can safely send people to our moon and bring them back," Saito responded.

"...I'll be honest and say that my world is a long way from making _that _kind of breakthrough," Naruto said sadly. "They're still fighting each other, killing their own and leaving death and destruction in their wake."

"It's the same here and back on my homeworld," Saito sighed. "A few months ago the country we're in now—Tristain—was at war with a neighbouring country called Albion. I died in a battle at the Rosevthe Military Port holding off an army of seventy thousand soldiers and was resurrected by Tiffa's elfin magic that she got from her mother."

"That's some pretty powerful abilities her people have," Naruto mused.

"_It was a onetime deal,"_ Delf added. _"It cost her, her mother's ring which was used to restart his heart and heal the damage."_

"I doubt you've noticed but human familiars aren't common," Saito continued. "In fact besides us both I've only encountered one other...her name is Sheffield...she's the familiar of another Void Mage like Louise...and I think Tiffa is a Void Mage too."

"What are these Void Mages exactly?" Naruto asked confused.

"I don't know how to explain it," Saito replied. "I don't even understand it myself...I just know that I want to protect Louise even if it costs me my life."

"...Being a familiar of a Void Mage...sounds like fun," Naruto grinned. Movement to the side caught his attention and he looked over. "Is that...a dragon?" he blinked.

"Yeah, it's Slyphid," Saito nodded. "She's Tabitha's familiar."

"I know that look," Naruto commented as he stared at the blue dragon. "I've seen it on Gamakichi enough times to know...it's the 'I'm hungry and I want to eat something' look."

"Let's go get her something to eat from the kitchen," Saito said as he stood.

* * *

"You slept with Saito?" Kirche asked in surprise. "I didn't think you'd be that bold," she mused making Louise blush crimson. The girls were all soaking in the warm bathing hall when the pinkette had let slip that she and her 'husband' had spent the night together.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal," Louise said as she turned away, her face completely red.

"Well technically they are married," Montmorency commented. "Legally speaking their wedding in Albion is recognized as a legal bonding as long as their Eclair D'amour still shines."

"How am I going to explain this to my parents though? My sisters already know...hell Lady Cattleya already gave us her blessing but...my parents are going to go crazy," Louise said almost panicking.

"That's simple," Kirche shrugged unconcerned. "You go to meet with them; put on the biggest sad puppy-eyes you can and then leave Saito to deal with them."

"Kirche," Montmorency protested. "She can't do that!"

"The last time my parents met Saito we ended up running away after they caught us...in the lake," Louise blushed remembering the incident.

Saito had her pinned under him inside a small rowing boat she used to hide in as a kid that she had been hiding in because of the problems she faced at the time concerning Saito, her parents and marriage proposals. Saito was still kissing her when the boat ended up back on dry land and with both her parents watching on with shocked and in her father's case angry eyes. Saito had managed pick her up and escape with a little help from her sister, Cattleya and Siesta.

That was both nerve-racking and kinda fun...

"Excuse me?" they all looked up at the source of the voice. "Can I sit here?" Tiffa asked wrapped in a towel.

"Damn girl," Kirche muttered as she looked the half-elf over. "You could suffocate someone with those," she commented glancing at the two magnificent orbs hanging from Tiffa's chest.

"It's your choice," Louise huffed and turned away. "Sit wherever you want."

"Thanks," Tiffa smiled as she eased herself into the water beside them.

* * *

"We should go back," Reynald reasoned as Verdinda dug through the ground, forming a tunnel they were crawling through.

"Don't you want to know the truth? We are nobles," Malicorne countered. "We do not know when we'll need to sacrifice ourselves for our country; but if we still don't know the truth...would you die a worthy death for that?"

"Why am I reminded of Ero-Sennin?" Naruto muttered from the back.

"We have arrived at the Holy Land," Guichi declared.

"You said you had something good to show us," Saito spoke up as Verdinda cleared out the neighbouring rock to expand the tunnel. The four mages in the group then started casting a concentrated spell on the far wall as it glowed blue.

"I get the feeling we're not going to like this," Naruto sighed as the glowing stopped and a small hole formed in the wall with light shining through.

"We made a hole," Guichi grinned.

"This is great," Malicorne almost shouted but Guichi covered his mouth to silence him.

"Come on, Saito, you look first," Guichi said with a gesture.

"Me? Why?" Saito asked only to be pushed towards the hole.

"Just take a look," Malicorne told him.

"What is it anyway?" Saito asked as he took a peek through the hole. "What's this? Fog?" he asked as the steam cleared slightly. "Is it possible that...it's the female bathroom?" his eyes widened and he turned towards the four mages. "You four made this hole..." he trailed off as he tried to suppress a grin.

'_Damn you Ero-Sennin! You've corrupted me!'_ Naruto yelled in thought as he took a look through the hole too.

"This is a present we got for you both," Guichi smiled knowingly and the others nodded.

"Really...you're all useless guys," Saito sighed.

"Sweet Kami," Naruto muttered. "Tiffa's in there too along with a redhead with huge...and a...is that pink hair?"

"What?" Saito asked pulling him away and looking through the hole. "Louise is in there?" he instantly spotted his wife/master with a towel wrapped around her.

"Miss Tiffania?" Guichi asked in surprise and pushed only to be rebuffed by Naruto.

"If you take one look, you perverts, I'll shove one of my kunai up your ass!" Naruto shouted only to wince as he remembered where he was.

"...Boy's voices," Tabitha spoke softly.

"Look, there is a hole in the wall!" Montmorency called and pointed towards the wall that the boys were hiding behind.

"Oh no," Gimli started to panic.

"Retreat," Guichi suggested.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Naruto winced.

"That's why I said to go back," Reynald cried.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Guichi yelled and the four mages made a dash down the tunnel towards the exit.

"_You two have got an escape plan...right?" _Delf asked the two human familiars.

"Nope," Naruto shrugged.

"Well we have to think of something because I think Louise will be mad at me," Saito said with a sigh.

"I'm drawing a blank here," Naruto added.

* * *

"Everyone, don't get caught," Guichi told the other three mages as they exited the tunnel.

"Wait...everyone!" Malicorne called after them from his trapped position at the tunnel entrance. He watched as they ran and tried to pull himself out but simply couldn't seem to get out of the hole.

Reynald and Gimli were the first ones to be caught by the girls, all of whom were wearing white robes and sporting angry looks. "A serious guy like you...to do such a thing," Montmorency said angrily.

"Please...have mercy," Reynald begged.

"It was the leader's idea," Gimli added.

"The one who says that is the most suspicious," Kirche said with a darkened look in moonlight.

"Just like a man," Montmorency proclaimed and drew her wand (not sure where from). **"Aqua!"** she exclaimed and water exploded from her wand, almost drowning Reynald.

"**Ignis!"** Kirche wasn't far behind and unleashed an explosion of flames at Gimli.

Back at the tunnel entrance Malicorne was still trying to break free and escape when the girls appeared. "Damn, just a little bit more," he said as he struggled.

"There!" Louise called as she and the rest of the girls moved in front of him. "So they go in through this hole huh?" the pink-haired Void Mage sneered in disgust.

"S-spare my life," Malicorne stammered as the girls pointed their wands at him.

"**Ardescat!"** the girls yelled and were soon followed by a thunderous explosion.

"Is there anyone inside?" Tiffa asked as she looked down the now clear hole in the ground.

"Don't hide inside anymore you peepers!" Louise shouted in outrage as the other girls crowded around.

"_Seems like accepting your fate is unwise right now," _Delf commented.

"We're dead if we go out there," Naruto added. "They'll kill us if they even suspect we're the ones down here."

"What else can we do?" Saito asked.

"**Onis!"** a voice echoed and a sudden blast of wind rushed through the tunnel, pulling them out into what seemed like a tornado.

"W-what's going on?" Saito stammered as the two human familiars were flung into the air and hurled through one of the central tower's windows.

"Ouch..." Saito winced in pain as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

"Where the hell are we now?" Naruto asked with a groan as he laid spread out on the floor.

"It looks like the Academy ballroom," Saito replied and a suddenly clang echoed through the room. "Who's there?" the blue-clad swordsman asked the dark and silent room.

"Be silent," a familiar voice whispered.

"That voice...is it Tabitha?" Saito inquired and saw a human-shaped shadow move near the stairs. "Tabitha, you helped us?" he asked her.

"As repayment for feeding Sylphid," Tabitha confirmed.

"Just because of that?" Saito asked surprised.

"Knights never owe anyone," Tabitha responded.

"Thanks for the help," Naruto nodded in gratitude.

"Thank you Tabitha," Saito said with a smile. Tabitha suddenly shushed him and grabbed him before pulling him into the darkness with her. Naruto heard the sound of footsteps approaching and blended into the darkness too when Montmorency burst through the door.

"Guichi, where are you hiding?" Montmorency demanded. "Come out!"

'_Tabitha, __why are you not wearing any clothes?'_ Saito thought as he felt Tabitha's state of undress push against his back. She was using his form to cover herself as he pressed her back against the wall, away from view of Montmorency and Naruto.

"I found Guichi!" another girl's voice called from the door.

"Where?" Montmorency questioned as she rushed out of the door with the other girl causing the three to sigh in relief.

"Safe now," Saito said finally.

"She almost found you though," Naruto countered only for him to raise his guard again when a rustle was heard echoing through the room.

"W-what are you doing?" Saito stammered as the naked Tabitha clung to him.

"G-ghost," Tabitha answered frightened and shivering.

"Ghost? You're scared of ghosts?" Saito asked her.

"Don't worry, we're here and won't let anything happen to you," Naruto told the blue-haired mage. Even though he was afraid of ghosts too he still wouldn't let it show, at least not around someone else who was more scared then him. Another rustle was heard and Tabitha suddenly fell backwards having fainted. Naruto caught her before she fell and quickly took off his red trench coat.

"Is she alright?" Saito asked worried as Naruto laid her down on the floor and set his coat over her form to cover her.

"She just fainted I think," Naruto replied honestly. "I'm going to take her back to her room...no offense but I'm less likely to be noticed being a ninja and all."

"That's probably a good idea," Saito nodded as another rustle caught their attention. They turned and saw what looked like a collection of small dolls walking across the floor and stopping in front of them.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked as the dolls started to dance.

"It's a puppet's party," Saito answered.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Naruto sighed and picked Tabitha up bridal style.

"Yeah...see you," Saito nodded and watched as Naruto carried Tabitha to the window and jumped into the darkness beyond.

"Puppets will dance here every night," Louise's voice echoed through the room.

"Louise?" Saito asked when he spotted her.

"You were also in the hole just now right?" Louise asked though it was more of a statement than a question. "Yes or no?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Saito admitted.

"Disappointing," Louise sighed.

"But I didn't know what they planned," Saito explained. "They didn't tell me they were going to spy on the women's bathroom until we were already there," that surprised her. "They just said that they had something nice to show me, so I followed them."

"...Let's go to bed," Louise said as she grabbed his hand. "It's been a long day...and I'm tired so let's go."

"Yes my master," Saito smiled as he followed her.

"And one other thing," Louise said over her shoulder. "Don't peek on me again...if you want to see me like that then be a man and do something about it yourself."

* * *

When Tabitha woke up she felt a pair of strong arms set her down on her bed and let go of her. Immediately she was alert and opened her eyes to the sight of Naruto turning away from her and heading towards the door.

"Wait," she whispered stopping him from leaving. "Don't leave...please stay with me."

"I can't do that," Naruto said as he refused to turn around.

"You know what it's like to be alone," Tabitha whispered softly causing him to stiffen. "When I look at you...I see a reflection of that pain in your eyes...I don't want to be alone," she stood up feeling his trench coat drop from her frame and walked up behind him. "Please," she pleaded.

"I..." he trailed off not knowing what to say.

"Please," she whispered again, turning him towards her and pulling his lips to hers.

He didn't fight back...

**Author's Notes:**

I bet known of you were expecting this to happen, huh? I'll tell you now there will be consequences to the actions taken by both Saito and Naruto in this chapter further down the line, especially Naruto's choice to comfort Tabitha considering her position as a knight of Gallia and the approaching betrayal. I've also went back and edited the first three chapters to better explain my reasoning concerning Naruto's choice not to return to Konoha followings his summoning by Tiffa.

On another note I have just been told that Familiar of Zero is making a forth Anime series scheduled for release next year however I do not intend to incorporate it into this story simply because I've already written out the timeline and do not want to start from scratch because of possible revelations the new season will bring.

_**Translation**_

Aqua = Water  
Ignis = Flame/Fire  
Ardescat = Burn  
Onis = Tornado

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	5. Knowledge is Power

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter5: Knowledge is Power

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

Naruto's eyes snapped opened and immediately recognized that this wasn't his apartment. Looking around he saw that he was lying in a bed in a room with only his tattered jumpsuit and red cloak present on the floor. He looked around confused for a moment before memories of the previous day came rushing back to him and he clutched his head in pain.

Movement at his side caught his attention and he saw Tabitha sleeping in the futon beside him with her hair covering most of her face. He brought his hand over and pushed the bangs behind her ear and smiled. Naruto slowly got out of the bed and got dressed upon finding out that his cloths had been cleaned, no doubt by one of the servants. He opened the door and left the room, making sure to close it behind him as he did so. Tabitha watched him go silently though he didn't know and allowed a small smile to cross her lips.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu," **Naruto whispered as he slammed his palm down on the ground of the courtyard. An explosion of smoke signified the summoning of a human-sized red toad wearing a blue jacket. "Yo Gamakichi, it's good to see you," Naruto greeted.

"B-bro?" Gamakichi stammered in surprise. "Bro! Where the hell have you been? We've looked everywhere for you but you just disappeared!"

"It's long a story Gamakichi," Naruto said with a sigh. "After the fight with Pein a week ago I-".

"Wow, wow, back up a second," Gamakichi interrupted. "What do you mean _a week ago?_ It's been a year since the Battle of Pain!"

"A...a year...but I've only been here two days at the most," Naruto responded.

"Bro...things back home are...messed up right now," Gamakichi started.

"What happened?" Naruto questioned.

"About a week after you disappeared and the reconstruction began that old coot Danzo became Hokage," Gamakichi began.

"Danzo?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes. "He's got a lot of nerve becoming Hokage after what he's done...he's the one responsible for creating Pein to begin with."

"Well he's dead now," Gamakichi continued. "Don't ask me why but your old buddy Sasuke killed him and attacked Kumo."

"Sasuke...why?" Naruto questioned further.

"He joined the Akatsuki," Gamakichi replied. "I don't know why he did it but he even attacked the Five Kage Summit before hunting down and killing Danzo. The five major villages formed an alliance against the Akatsuki and managed to secure the Hachibi Jinchuuriki though he was captured a few days ago on this island which was a giant turtle."

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked.

"The Akatsuki leader...the real one, not Pein...he declared open war on the five major villages at the summit," Gamakichi explained. "He wants to collect all of the Biju and merge them together into one demon...a Juubi."

"Juubi?" Naruto asked.

"Apparently the Biju we know today are just the nine pieces of the original Juubi that was defeated by the Rikudō-Sennin," Gamakichi continued. "If someone were to become its Jinchuuriki then they would be unstoppable."

"What's his name? The Akatsuki leader?" Naruto asked the question.

"Uchiha Madara," Gamakichi answered.

_**You're chakra is vile and disgusting...it reminds me of Uchiha Madara.**_

"Who's Madara?" Naruto inquired as he relived the memory.

"He was the founder of the Uchiha clan in Konoha and fought the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama at the Valley of the End," Gamakichi replied. "He was supposed to have died back then but he somehow survived...it's believed that he was the one that was manipulating the Yondaime Mizukage during the bloodline purges."

"Madara...he's the one who summoned the Kyuubi to attack Konoha the day I was born," Naruto stated.

"Madara is actively looking for you bro," Gamakichi told him. "He wants the Kyuubi and he'll be coming after you to get it."

"He won't get his hands on it," Naruto said clearly. "Gamakichi, I have a favour to ask of you."

"Anything," Gamakichi responded.

"I need you to return to Konoha and locate my father's body. If you can locate the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing that would help too," Naruto requested.

"Y-your father? I don't know what your-" Gamakichi started.

"Kichi...I know, alright? Please just get it for me," Naruto told him.

"...Alright...I've tried reverse summoning you but it won't work for some reason," Gamakichi responded. "You might want to summon Gerotora and Ogama-Sennin."

"I'll do that," Naruto nodded.

"It was great seeing you again bro," Gamakichi grinned before he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto quickly formed a set of hand-seals and slammed his palm down on the ground again. A massive explosion of smoke blocked everything from view and as the smoke cleared a large elderly toad was revealed with several other toads sitting before him.

"Yo, yo," Naruto greeted with a wave. "How have you been super-sized sage?"

"It took you long enough," Fukasaku said. "It's been three days since you summoned Gamakichi and I've been forced to sit in the same spot waiting for you to summon us."

"It's only been a few seconds for me," Naruto admitted.

"Who are you again?" the Great Toad Sage asked.

Naruto sweat dropped at that before answering, "Uzumaki Naruto. Come on super-sized sage, at least remember my name." _'Can't we have one meeting without this shtick?'_ he asked in thought.

"Oh yes Naruto," the sage nodded having finally remembered him. "Naruto...I have seen your future, you...you will do battle against a man with powerful eyes and-".

"I already know that part," Naruto interrupted. "Madara right?"

After a moment of silence the sage spoke again, "Gerotora I have also foreseen the transfer of the key to Naruto as well. Give him the key to the seal and allow him to wield it and its consequences."

"If you say so elder," Gerotora agreed and unraveled the scroll he sat on in front of Naruto.

"What's that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"The key to opening and closing the Yondaime Hokage's seal; with this, you could actually release the Kyuubi completely if you wanted to instead of _becoming_ the Kyuubi like it's been trying to do," Gerotora explained. "Put your hand on that square; this is also your ticket to perfecting _that_ jutsu."

For a long moment Naruto didn't move...

"What's the matter? Hurry up and touch the seal," Fukasaku told him.

"You're worried aren't you Naruto? Well I'm not surprised," Gerotora said with a sigh.

"What?" Fukasaku asked confused.

"Fukasaku-sama the Kyuubi's power is made up of two parts, his chakra and his will. In order to control the Kyuubi he needs to draw only on the Kyuubi's chakra and make it his own. But it's not easy; if he draws on the chakra then the Kyuubi's will comes with it. The Kyuubi is a mass of hatred and it clings strongly to the chakra. No matter how strongly you brace yourself it will try and take over your heart by clinging to the shreds of hatred inside. In other words m in order to control the Kyuubi's chakra your own will must be strong and free of hatred in order to separate the two completely. The Yondaime made the seal so small amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra would leak out and naturally mix with Naruto's own chakra but once he uses the key to unlock the seal he will be able to draw on the Kyuubi's full chakra," Gerotora explained.

"And the Kyuubi's full will is attached to the chakra," Fukasaku finished as he caught on.

"If the Kyuubi's will is stronger than Naruto's then the Kyuubi will be completely revived," Gerotora finished.

"Has the seal ever been fully opened?" Fukasaku inquired curiously.

"The truth is that the Yondaime's seal is weakening. In order to keep Naruto from turning into the Kyuubi while he trained, Jiraiya used the key to close the seal but the seal was weak and he didn't know when Naruto might once again turn into the Kyuubi. Remember the thing has _nine tails_ worth of power...even a Shinigami-created seal is going to have problems containing that over a prolonged period of time," Gerotora continued. "So Jiraiya used the key to open the seal for a short time to try and strengthen Naruto so he could control the Kyuubi but...it failed."

"What happened then?" Fukasaku asked warily.

"It didn't go well," Gerotora answered grimly.

"It's true that when I fought Orochimaru before, I opened myself to the Kyuubi and let it take control of my will. I got so mad at what he said about Sasuke that I wanted to defeat Orochimaru right away. But I ended up hurting Sakura-Chan and Yamato-taicho told me to use my own strength rather than rely on the Kyuubi. It was one thing when I was just training and I had Yamato-taicho watching over me just in case but in battle there's nothing but hatred. So I thought I didn't want the Kyuubi's power and I didn't think I'd be able to control the Kyuubi's will. But when Pein hurt Hinata I was filled with so much hatred and rather than not using it my heart automatically connected with the Kyuubi's will. Dad redid the seal so I'm not worried right now but I don't know when it will happen again...and I can't just leave it alone. Nagato entrusted me with the future...I won't let the Kyuubi endanger anyone else. In the end I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki; I can't run away from that," Naruto smiled and pressed on the scroll.

"Finally," Fukasaku groaned out.

"There's no use in hesitating; I can control it just like dad wanted me too," Naruto said he felt the seal on his stomach light up for a second.

"We have an agreement; I will join you," Gerotora nodded.

"Good, now do you have the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing?" Naruto asked. "And my father's body?"

"Its right here," Fukasaku nodded and handed him the large scroll. "Why did you want it for?" he asked as the Great Toad Sage placed Minato's body down on the ground.

"There's something in here that belonged to my father," Naruto responded. "Something I'll need in the coming days...something I'll need for my fight with Madara."

"Good luck and know we will always be by your side," Fukasaku said before the toads disappeared in poofs of smoke. Naruto sighed and shouldered the scroll and sealed away his father's body in another scroll.

* * *

The scene when Naruto returned to the courtyard was strange and interesting to say the least. Saito was being hugged by this man he didn't recognize who was wearing a maid's outfit and had lipstick on. The man appeared to be trying to kiss Saito but the boy was holding him back and kicked him in the crotch forcing the man to drop him and collapse to the floor in pain.

"What the hell is going on here?" was all Naruto could ask.

"Saito, Naruto, please save me!" Tiffa shouted as she rushed into Naruto's arms.

"What did I miss?" Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Everyone is acting weird," Tiffa responded. "They're staring at my breasts, and even hugging me. They must have been controlled by magic; please help me escape."

"Magic?" Saito asked confused.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" Naruto inquired.

"Tiffania, so you're here," Louise said as she appeared along with Jessica, Montmorency and even Beatrice. "We're fated to be together since we met each other. Today we must use our bodies to end this..."

"Use your bodies?" Saito yelled in surprise.

'_Damn you Ero-Sennin! I know it's you that keeps getting me into these situations!'_ Naruto thought with blood dripping down his nose.

"Love each other forever like us," Montmorency said as she grabbed hold of Beatrice.

"Love is too wonderful..." Beatrice said as she pulled the other girl's lips to hers in a kiss.

"That's so good," Saito muttered.

"How the hell do we keep ending up in these situations? Not that I'm complaining..." Naruto trailed off at the sight of the two girls making out.

"Come here Tiffania," Louise said as she closed in on the half-elf.

"What do we do? They're obviously not themselves," Naruto asked as he stepped in between the two girls.

"I didn't want to use it here but I have no choice," Tiffa muttered. "Naruto, please move out of the way," she said as she held up her wand. Naruto reluctantly nodded and moved aside as she started incanting something in a language he didn't recognize. Her wand sparked and the four girls were wrapped in a tornado-like barrier. **"Deleo!"** the wind died down and the four girls (and one man) blinked in confusion.

"What did I do?" Louise asked confused before looking down at herself.

"What did you do to them?" Naruto asked the half-elf.

"I erased their memories of today along with what was affecting them," Tiffa replied.

"Who are you?" Beatrice asked Jessica, having never seen her before.

"I seem to have had a very nice dream," Scarron mused.

"Kya! Who are you?" Beatrice and Montmorency yelled in fright.

"Not good," Jessica said as she and her father started running. "It would be bad to stay here any longer; let's go back."

"Ah, wait for me!" Scarron shouted after his daughter as they escaped.

"What the hell is wrong with this place?" Naruto muttered as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Tiffania," Saito spoke up. "That magic just now was..."

"I'm guessing the ability to control memories isn't common even for this place huh?" Naruto asked as he turned towards them.

"No, it's mostly elemental magic they use here," Saito replied.

"Saito, everyone...I'm sorry," spoke Siesta. "It was my love potion that caused all this trouble."

"Love potion?" Saito asked.

"They actually have stuff like that here?" Naruto inquired.

"Yes but its illegal," Beatrice answered.

"Is it this one?" Montmorency asked as she held out a small pink heart-shaped container. "This low-quality love medicine is yours?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Siesta apologized.

"Forget it," Montmorency said as she turned away. "I don't remember it anyway...don't cause such problems like this anymore."

"Yes..." Siesta said understanding.

* * *

"Magic that can make people forget?" Saito asked confused as the two human familiars and their summoners sat at the table in Louise's/Saito's room.

"Sounds like a Yamanaka mind-walker but they're only capable of blocking memories not erasing them entirely," Naruto mused.

"That is the only magic I can use," Tiffa said sadly.

"That you know," Naruto countered.

"_You're half-elf so it stands to reason that you can use elfin magic too,"_ Delf added.

"I've never heard of such magic before," Louise commented slightly worried. "Wild magic perhaps? Or...something else."

"Another Void Mage," Saito spoke up.

"It is odd that she would summon a _human _as a familiar," Louise reasoned. "Sheffield's a human familiar and her master is a Void Mage. I think it's safe to say that only Void Mages can have human familiars. But if that were true then you, Naruto would have been gifted with special powers like Saito can wield any weapon by simply touching them."

"...My eyes," Naruto responded. "My eyes can turn into the Rinnegan whenever I channel chakra—magic—into them and I'm able to use its abilities...though I'm still working on using them to lessen the strain it puts on me."

"Why don't you need a wand to do magic?" Louise asked curious.

"The ninja of my world use hand-seals to channel our chakra in order to do our jutsu," Naruto explained. "Don't ask me how it's done; I was never very good at understanding how it worked, never mind trying to explain it."

"The hand of god can wield ultimate power," Tiffa whispered. "The eyes of god can see the border of life and death...the mind of god holds the knowledge of the universe."

**Author's Notes:**

I keep getting a lot of complaints about the first chapter and Naruto's apparently violent/protective streak where Tiffa is concerned. The truth is every time I go back and try to write it differently it always comes out the same way and to be honest I just don't know what to do with it. As of right now I'm going to make this clear to everyone that I just can't write it any better than what I've done already. I'm sorry but that's the truth and it's staying that way for the now.

As for this chapter Tabitha silently watches him leave after their night comforting each other and Naruto talks to Gamakichi. I actually had it planned from the start that time between the two worlds moved at different speeds. One week in Tristain is a year in the Elemental Countries and Naruto can't be reverse summoned as long as he's marked as Tiffa's familiar forcing him to remain in Tristain while the people of his homeworld quickly grow older with each passing day.

Also Naruto gets the key to the Kyuubi's seal along with his father's body where the Kyuubi's Yin chakra is sealed. With it he can complete the Kyuubi and become a full Jinchuuriki like his mother. Then there is the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing which will work nicely with his Rinnegan allowing him to learn and master any jutsu in it no matter what element. In case you didn't notice I'm making Naruto out to be like the Rikudō-Sennin in this fic and that will be more apparent in further chapters..

_**Translation**_

Deleo = Erase

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	6. Masquerade Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter6: Masquerade Part 1

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

Saito laid in bed tired but wide awake as he felt both Louise and Siesta on either side of him snuggling against his arms. Part of him liked the contact and wouldn't stay like this forever but there was the little issue of both girls wanting his attention solely on only one of them.

"I wonder why I'm feeling so cold," Siesta said cutely. "Come closer, Saito," she whispered as she stroked the side of his face.

"You idiotic maid," Louise barely held back the yell. "Move your hand away now," she swatted the other girl's hand away from Saito's face and both sat up in bed. "Every night, every night you keep moving closer, you shameless maid. Saito is my familiar, my _husband _or don't you get that?"

"I won't move away," Siesta responded defiant. "I got a mission from Queen Henrietta to take care of Saito and that's what I intend to do."

"What did you say?" Louise asked as her temper started to flare.

"What's wrong with that?" Siesta shot back.

"Would you both calm down for a just a moment and let me sleep?" Saito asked the two.

"Shut up!" the two girls yelled at once.

Saito just sighed and fell back onto the pillow mumbling a 'yes dears' to them.

"If that's the case, let's have a contest," Siesta suggested.

"Contest?" Louise inquired.

"Let's see who Saito would choose," Siesta continued.

"Isn't that meaningless? This guy is deeply in love with me _and _he's my husband. You'd never win," Louise responded.

"Oh really? It must be a misunderstanding," Siesta with an almost predatory smile. "Just like a newborn bird who wants the first person it sees as its parent."

"It's not like that!" Louise denied.

"If you have the confidence then a contest should be fine, right?" Siesta asked with a knowing smile. Hook, line and sinker...

"Of course, the one he will choose is me," Louise replied slightly nervous.

"Then let's have it this way," Siesta suggested. "At the Sleipnir Dance Party tomorrow, if Saito is able to find Miss Valliere I'll give once and for all. However..." there was now a disturbing twinkle in her eyes.

"W-what?" Louise asked nervously.

"If he can't find you...then..." Siesta spoke as her arms slid under her breasts and they jiggled for a second. "You really don't have any confidence after all," she added upon seeing the pinkette's reaction.

"I have every confidence," Louise countered fiercely. "Don't get arrogant your breasts are big! You cow!"

"Sounds like the howling of a homeless puppy," Siesta commented.

The two girls in an act of complete immaturity stuck out there tongues at other and then dropped their heads down to the pillows facing away from each other. In the middle Saito let out a sigh of both relief and frustration his wife and maid's actions.

'_Seems like the future is full of disasters,'_ Saito thought as he drifted off to sleep. _'And what's Sleipnir?'_

* * *

"Good morning," Naruto greeted as Saito approached and sat down at the dining table in the center of the hall. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked having taken noticed of the swordsman's tired look.

"Louise and Siesta just wouldn't go to sleep last night," Saito replied. "They mentioned something about Sleipnir and a bet of some kind, I can't remember."

"Sleipnir?" Naruto asked confused.

"It's a dance party that's held at the start of a new semester; it's taking place tonight," Malicorne explained as he ate.

"New semester?" Saito asked. "Why would they need to organize a dance party?"

"It serves as a reception," Malicorne replied.

"I shall use my hand to teach the noble ladies how the adult society socialises," Guichi said stunningly.

"Right..." Naruto deadpanned while Saito looked amused.

"Did you know? There's sightings of a monstrous bird been spotted around the country," a passing classmate said to his friend catching the attention of both Saito and Naruto.

"Ah, I've heard that too," the other replied. "From the rumours it seems to be an unbelievably huge and monstrous bird."

"My brother from the Dragon Knight Squad said that too," the first added.

"However, this isn't any normal ball," Guichi continued catching their attention again. "It's a masquerade ball; using the Mirror of Truth we can masquerade ourselves with its magic. You can change your appearance to the person you hope to be the most."

'_There's something that can really do that?'_ Naruto thought.

"Ahahaha—how many people will transform into me I wonder?" Guichi smiled stunningly. "For I'm the most beautiful person in the world."

"None I hope, we can barely stomach the one of you," Naruto quipped.

"And who would you like to be the most?" Guichi shot back.

"...I don't know," Naruto answered truthfully.

"What about you Saito?" Malicorne asked turning to where the swordsman sat only to see the chair empty.

"Where did he-" Guichi started.

'_How the hell did he get passed my senses?'_ Naruto blinked in surprise and looked around the room, finding Saito walking towards the two students that passed the table before.

"Can you tell me about the rumours in detail?" Saito asked the pair.

"It's said to happen at night," the first classmate started. "A Dragon Riding Knight on patrol looked up and saw something strange that was at least a hundred and fifty meters long."

"Could it be the legendary gigantic dragon?" another classmate asked as he approached.

"No," yet another student mage spoke up. "The shape of it is totally different from that of a dragon."

"But, when the Dragon Knight flew up into the sky it was gone," the first student finished. "He didn't see anything at all...he must have been wrong."

_You're not the only Void user..._

'_Don't tell me those people are up to something again...'_ Saito thought as he returned to the table. _'I have to warn Louise to be cautious.'_

"A huge bird _that _large...that sounds like either a demon...or an airship to me," Naruto mused.

"This world doesn't have demons," Saito shook his head. "At least I don't think it does...but if it was an airship then it would need a better engine than the ones currently available to this world."

The question was who was behind it?

* * *

"So, all the students that have gathered...the Lady Fantasy of the Night shall take you to the world of fantasies," Chevreuse explained as she stood between the large curtain and the students. "May I introduce...the Mirror of Truth," she pulled the curtain back to reveal a golden framed mirror.

"So, that's the mirror," Naruto muttered when he saw it.

"Is it so hard to believe?" Louise asked almost uncaring.

"On my world we can cast a spell on ourselves called _Henge _which makes us look like anyone or anything we want," Naruto responded. "Even then only _I _and my last student, Konohamaru was able to _really_ transform like what this mirror is supposed to do."

"Please go in one at a time," Chevreuse told them.

* * *

_Are you ready?_

Naruto was curious when he first stood in front of the mirror having seen several students go in before him and come out the other side looking completely different.

_You must think of the ideal person in your mind._

His ideal person? Truthfully he didn't know...at first he thought about his father and the way he looked back during the battle with Pein. Jiraiya? Kakashi? _Sasuke?_

_The mirror will reach the deepest part of your heart, transforming your appearance to your ideal person. Come, imagine it..._

He closed his eyes and the mirror began to glow a mix of pink and red. When he opened his eyes after the light died down he was shocked at the face that looked back at him through the mirror. It was the face of the one man he knew but yet didn't know...he had red hair, looked roughly eighteen and his eyes were that of a certain Rinnegan.

His ideal person was Nagato before he descended into darkness...

"Nagato..." Naruto trailed off and turned away, proceeding into the dining hall.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Osmond explained. "Tonight is the Masquerade Ball; there's no need to be troubled by status, rank or title. It's organized to let everyone feel equal or else, it'd be impossible to learn together. Moreover...Queen Henrietta is here tonight; she also obeyed the rules of the Masquerade Ball and mixed up in the crowd. Guessing who Queen Henrietta is would be a fun thing to do hm? Listen, you all have to work hard to become the ideal person you wish to be. Then, please enjoy the ball to the fullest."

"Hurry, hurry, the ball has started," Chevreuse ushered the next group of students towards the mirror room. Gimli was the first one to transform and turned into what looked like a Tristian knight. Next was Montmorency as Queen Henrietta and finally a _female _Malicorne.

"I've always admired the Dragon Riding Knights," Gimli cheered as he examined himself.

"I've always wanted to try becoming a princess too," Montmorency smiled as she looked at her/Henrietta's body.

"I've transformed into a stunning beauty indeed," the female Malicorne danced as the other two stared clearly disturbed by the sight.

"I think I'm blind," Naruto muttered while cursing the fact that his Rinnegan was active.

"Hi, everyone," Guichi smiled dazzlingly while appearing like his normal self.

"Captain?" Gimli asked confused.

"Where's your masquerade?" Montmorency asked.

"What're you talking about? I've already done my masquerading," Guichi replied with a shining smile. "The one with extraordinary beauty and ideal figure is only me after all."

'_By the sage...I kn__ew he was self-centered but seriously, what the fuck?'_ Naruto thought as he watched on.

"Shouldn't there be a limit to how self absorbed a person can be?" Montmorency asked with an almost horrified face. Suddenly four identical blond elves dashed out of the curtain and into the room.

"Four Tiffas?" Naruto blinked before approaching the four. _'Bad thoughts, bad thoughts...good thoughts?'_

"Hey, if all of us masquerade as Tiffania, how're we supposed to tell each other apart?" the first Tiffa, clearly Beatrice asked.

"Hey, you four...by any chance is one of you the _real _Tiffa? She was supposed to be here by now," Naruto asked the four catching their attention.

'_Those eyes...it's that blond boy...Naruto,'_ Beatrice thought when she saw him.

"We're not really-" one of the other girls started only to be cut off.

"I'm the real Tiffa," Beatrice spoke surprising the other girls. "And I believe you owe me a dance...you do know how to dance, don't you?"

"Well yeah but-" Naruto began.

"Then dance with me," Beatrice smiled through Tiffa's face.

"...Alright but I'm not too sure about your country's dancing style," Naruto nodded and took her hand in his.

"What is milady doing?" one of the other Tiffas asked as she the two step out onto the dance floor and began to waltz.

Naruto again thanked the sage and Kami that he had the Rinnegan and had used it to search through that girl, Beatrice's mind during the Inquisition last month. If it wasn't for that he would never have been able to even keep up with 'Tiffa' in his arms.

"You're good," Naruto commented.

"So are you," Beatrice responded.

"Is something wrong? Your voice sounds different," Naruto asked with a worried look.

"...I'm fine," Beatrice replied. "Can we go get some air?"

"Okay," Naruto nodded and the two walked towards the stairs. They eventually stepped out into the courtyard and Beatrice pulled away.

"There's something different about you," Beatrice commented. "You aren't like other guys...you're too kind."

"You're Beatrice, aren't you?" Naruto asked her.

"...When did you know?" Beatrice asked back.

"When I first spotted you and the others I knew that you couldn't be the _real _Tiffa but I didn't know you were Beatrice until we started dancing...those moves were just like the ones I saw when I read your mind," Naruto answered. "So, your ideal person is Tiffa huh?"

"...Yes she is," Beatrice admitted. "You and her...you're my first _real _friends. The first people to accept me for who I am and not for being a princess," she smiled and turned away.

"When I first looked in that mirror I thought I'd turn into my father or my former master but...instead I turned into my dead relative," Naruto spoke sadly. "This face, these eyes and this hair are my family's bloodline...I still remember his face before he died...and it was nothing like the face you see now."

"...Who was he?" Beatrice asked.

"His name was Nagato Uzumaki," Naruto replied. "He wasn't a man...he was a god powerful enough to crush entire villages and turn them into craters with the wave of a hand."

"...And what about you?" Beatrice asked hesitant as he suddenly appeared in front of her and pulled her against him.

"I..." Naruto started. "I am the last of a family...a clan...I inherited the Rinnegan when Tiffa made me her familiar. I am only human...for now."

He didn't know just how true those words were...

"...Kiss me," Beatrice asked of him.

"What?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Pretend I'm Tiffania for just a moment...I want to feel you...please," Beatrice pleaded.

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment but silently nodded and brought his lips to hers. Neither of them noticed the blue-haired mage knight watching on from the steps before she turned away. As she left to complete her mission she smiled, happy that one of them had escaped their loneliness.

It was time to begin...

**Author's Notes:**

Mostly follows canon except for the moment between Naruto and Beatrice. Truthfully I didn't know who I should make Naruto be when he looked in the mirror at first but I finally settled on Nagato as he was before he became Pein. I was actually thinking of making him out to transform into Sasuke for awhile until I thought of Nagato.

_**Translation**_

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	7. Masquerade Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter7: Masquerade Part 2

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

"Where exactly is Louise?" Saito sighed as he walked through the ballroom without a masquerade. He was running late as it was when he spotted what looked like a large dragon fly through the night sky outside. "Although it's a masquerade ball, no one is cosplaying nor wearing masks," he mused before he saw a flicker of pink hair to his right. "There she is," he sighed in relief when he spotted 'Louise' standing at the balcony looking out into the night sky. "Louise?" he asked as he approached. "I found you quite easily," Saito said with a smile as he stepped out onto the balcony.

"You are..." Louise/Henrietta asked.

"Huh? I'm me of course," Saito replied confused.

"Eh, could it be...the real Saito," Henrietta muttered as she looked away.

"Anyway, a huge monstrous bird appeared," Saito responded. "Never mind, I guess its okay for now since I'm here with you," he blushed remembering what had happened between them since that had gotten married.

"Saito..." Henrietta whispered with Louise's face and voice.

"As I'm saying..." Saito started.

"Yes?" Henrietta asked him when a spider came down between them. She screamed when she saw it and clung to Saito as the spider dropped to the ground and dashed away.

"Louise," Saito reassured. "Are you really afraid of that small spider?" She didn't reply, instead she simply stared up into his eyes before the two closed in and their lips met in the center. Suddenly her body glowed pink and the body of Louise was soon changed back into her true form of Henrietta. "Your Highness?" Saito asked in surprise when the two pulled away. "Why is Your Highness..."

"The magic is gone!" one of the students shouted. "The ball hasn't ended! This is bad; the Mirror of Truth has been broken!"

"Mirror?" Saito asked confused.

"Tonight's a ball that uses magic for masquerade," Henrietta explained.

"Using magic for masquerade...that means..." Saito started to stammer. "I'm sorry; I thought that you were Louise."

"Don't mind about that," Henrietta told him. "It's my fault that I've used the magic to transform into my ideal person. It's normal that you didn't know of it."

"Ideal person...Louise?" Saito asked.

"Yes," Henrietta nodded sadly. "I'm very envious of her...she has an untainted heart and a sense of righteousness in her. If only I had a tenth of her courage then I wouldn't have committed any mistakes, right?"

"Making mistakes...your Highness didn't do anything wrong," Saito responded.

"No...I..." Henrietta cried silently into his chest before looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "Saito..." she closed her eyes and her face drew closer to hers.

The sudden sound of shattering glass echoed through the night...

Henrietta stopped and turned towards the source only to gasp in horror when she saw that familiar flock of pink hair. "Louise," she whispered softly.

"Louise! Wait! It's not what you think!" Saito shouted as she turned and fled.

Henrietta watched them go sadly...

"What happened?" Beatrice asked when she saw that both her and Naruto had returned to their true forms in the middle of the courtyard.

"I don't know," Naruto replied and went completely still in order to gather natural energy.

"The Mirror of Truth must have been broken," Beatrice guessed.

"Naruto! Beatrice!" the familiar voice of Tiffa called out as she appeared from the nearby entrance. "I've been looking everywhere for you...something is wrong!"

"We noticed," Beatrice responded.

'_**Senjutsu: Sennin Modo,'**_Naruto thought as he gathered natural energy into himself. "What—what the hell is this?" Naruto said in surprise as his eyes turned yellow with a red outline and elongated pupils. He could sense chakra now and what he sensed was disturbing to say the least. Around the academy were numerous cold chakra signatures, almost like puppets and they all appeared to be converging on the main gate.

"Louise! Wait!" Saito called after the pinkette as she rushed out of the main entrance with Saito right behind her.

'_Why? When did it start?'_ Louise thought as she ran, tears falling from her eyes. _'I don't know, I don't know.'_

"Louise!" Saito shouted as he grabbed her arm, preventing her from running any further.

"No, let go of me!" Louise shouted back.

"Listen to me," Saito pleaded.

"Saito, I hate you," she told him. "You're a traitor, you big idiot. With her Highness of all people...have I been deceived all along?" she cried.

"You misunderstand...just now was..." Saito started.

"What did I misunderstand? I actually saw it with my own eyes!" Louise shot back.

"That's because I mistook her for you and things turned out like that," Saito explained.

"Liar!" she yelled and pushed him away before turning and running out of the main gates. "Stay away from me! I hate you the most!"

"Louise!" Saito called after her as he ran to catch up with her. "Louise?" he asked when he cleared the gates and couldn't see her anymore. A flicker of motion to his left caught his attention. "Louise?" he asked only to see blue hair blowing in the wind instead of pink. "Tabitha?" he asked "Did you see where Louise went?"

"**Glacies**** Clavus,"** Tabitha raised her staff and shards of ice formed at her side. The shards immediately shot towards him forcing him to draw Derflinger and dodge the barrage.

"**Rasengan!" **Naruto appeared behind the blue-haired mage and trust out his hand with a familiar spinning chakra sphere in hand. Tabitha narrowly dodged and the ball slammed into the academy outer wall, blowing a hole in it the size of a human body.

"Naruto?" Saito asked in surprise.

"Why?" Naruto asked Tabitha. "Why exactly are you attacking us all of a sudden?"

"It's an order," Tabitha replied and swung her staff out towards him. **"Glacies Clavus!" **she exclaimed and formed another volley of ice spikes.

"**Shinra Tensei!" **Naruto called out as the spikes closed in and they were suddenly blown back by an invisible force. "Order? What order?"

"I..." Tabitha started.

"Why are you hesitating?" a new female voice called out.

They all looked up to see what looked like a black flying stingray with a woman and Louise standing on top of it. "Sheffield," Saito said with anger in his voice. "So that monstrous bird we've been hearing about is really you after all," he rushed forward only for Tabitha to step in his way.

"Move out of the way Tabitha," Saito said to her. "If you don't move aside right now I'll be forced to go through you to save Louise."

"How can she move aside? She is the Chevalier Nor-parterre," Sheffield sneered. "Our loyal watchdog."

"Watchdog?" Saito asked.

"_Partner, she seems to be serious,"_ Derf spoke up.

"I'll deal with her, you go rescue Louise," Naruto told the blue-clad swordsman as two clones popped into existence beside him.

"...Are you sure?" Saito asked over his shoulder.

"I'll be fine...good luck," Naruto nodded as Tabitha charged another spell, this one obviously more powerful than before.

"**Glacies Pilum!"** Tabitha exclaimed as the ice compressed into a single long javelin which then shot towards the two Human familiars.

"**Futon: Rasengan!" **Naruto called out as the clones finished charging a fist-sized spinning ball of chakra and wind. He brought the sphere up and slammed it into the oncoming ice javelin as Saito blurred passed them both and towards where Sheffield and the hypnotized Louise hovered.

"Louise! Wake up!" Saito shouted as he jumped up, higher than humanly possible and slashed at the side of the stingray.

"It's futile, she's been deeply hypnotized," Sheffield sneered down at him as an explosion from Tabitha and Naruto's clashed echoed across the battlefield.

"Hey Louise! Louise!" Saito shouted.

"...Saito," Louise whispered, snapping out of her trance. "Saito!"

"What?" Sheffield snapped her head towards her hostage in surprise.

"Louise! Jump down here!" Saito yelled in relief.

"No," Louise shook her head.

"Do you understand the situation?" Saito asked her.

"Shut up idiot! I hate you to the core!" Louise shouted back as she stomped her feet, causing the stingray to groan.

"Foolish girl! Don't mess around," Sheffield said to the pinkette in anger.

"Don't touch me! I hate you all!" Louise yelled before she lost her footing and fell. She screamed as she plummeted towards the ground, only the narrow catch by Saito saved her from hitting the ground face first.

"Louise, are you alright?" Saito asked her.

"Saito...let me go!" Louise yelled and pushed him away.

"Idiot, it only turned out that way before because of-" Saito started.

"I hate you! Let me go! I don't want-" Louise shouted.

"I only belong to you, Louise," Saito told her.

"I'm not going to believe that!" Louise shouted at him.

"Oh to hell with it," Saito muttered and then leaned forward and captured her lips with his. She stopped struggling immediately and he sighed as he pulled back. "Do you believe me now?" he asked her.

"Is that for real?" Louise responded.

"Yeah, really," Saito nodded. "The one I care for the most in this world is you, Louise."

"Saito," Louise cried as she clung to him and sobbed.

"_Partner, excuse me for interrupting your sweet moment," _Derf spoke up. _"However, we seem to be completely surrounded."_

They both looked up to see a large number of demonic looking stone golems with wings around them. Another explosion from behind them caught their attention and they looked over to see Naruto standing over Tabitha with a kunai imbedded in the ground beside her neck.

"Why? You could have killed me...why spare me?" Tabitha asked confused.

"...You're a friend," Naruto replied with a sad smile. "Don't you remember that night we spent together? Did it mean nothing to you?"

"No...I...it meant more to me than anything else," Tabitha admitted. "I'm sorry," she said before her staff flashed blue and she disappeared in a swirl of wind from under him.

'_No, no, no, no! Not again! I won't let this happen again! Tabitha...__I won't lose you like Sasuke...'_ Naruto thought as he slowly rose to his feet and clenched his hands into fists.

"Naruto..." Tiffa muttered from her place at the main gates. Beatrice stood by her side looking frightened having watched the whole battle.

"I thought I told you to stay inside the academy grounds," Naruto said to them.

"Tiffania Westwood...Void Mage," Sheffield smirked. "It looks like it's my lucky day...not only will I have captured one Void Mage...but two...my master will be most pleased."

"You'll never get your hands on her," Naruto growled back.

"On either of them," Saito agreed.

"And who is going to stop me?" Sheffield sneered. "Who are you to stand against us?"

"We are the Familiars of the Void!" Naruto and Saito shouted together as they charged forward.

"**Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **hundreds of shadow clones popped into existence around them and charged. **"****Sempo: Cho Oodama Rasen Tarengan!"** they jumped at the demonic golems and created huge spheres of spinning chakra the size of their own bodies. Sheffield could only watch in horror as her golem army was destroyed in matter of seconds as the giant spinning energy spheres tore them to pieces.

"**Secare!" **Saito appeared above her and cut down with his sword. Sheffield jumped back just as the sword made contact and the stingray seemingly shattered like glass. Below, a large deep cut formed in the field with an echoing boom and was soon followed by a blast of wind, propelling the still airborne Sheffield several meters away.

'_What are these two?'_ Sheffield thought with wide eyes as Saito seemingly disappeared in a burst of speed that was almost inhuman and reappeared in front of her. He swung Derf down to slice her in two when she clutched her necklace and vanished from the battlefield.

"I think that's the last of them," Naruto said as he stood atop a still intact demonic golem with his long red coat waving in the wind.

"She got away," Saito added as he sheathed Derf with his back against the moons.

"Hey down there!" a voice called out and they all looked up to the sight of a massive dragon-shaped airship.

"That voice..." Louise trailed off.

"It's been a long time," spoke Mister Colbert as he stood beside a grinning Kirche.

**Author's Notes:**

Final chapter of this triple update and it sets up the next story arc. As you can see Naruto and Tabitha's past relationship has come to head as the two are forced to fight one another in this chapter. This apparent betrayal by Tabitha forces Naruto to come it to Sasuke's betrayal and now he's going to have to make a choice between what's right and what's easy.

Also Naruto has been teaching Saito and a few of the others how to use their chakra without wands. That's why Saito was able to move that fast because he was being boosted not only by his powers as a familiar but also his normal chakra as well increasing his speed and attack strength beyond the normal in the anime.

_**Translation**_

Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Multiple Shadow Clone Technique  
Senjutsu: Sennin Modo = Sage Technique: Sage Mode  
Futon: Rasengan = Wind Release: Spiralling Sphere  
Sempo: Cho Oodama Rasen Tarengan = Sage Art: Super Great Ball Spiraling Large Group Spheres  
Shinra Tensei = Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God  
Glacies Clavus = Ice Spike  
Glacies Pilum = Ice Javelin  
Secare = Cut

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	8. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter8: Aftermath

**Tristain Academy of Magic / Airship Ostland**

"So that's your old sensei huh?" Naruto asked as he leaned on the railing. "It's surprising that he was able to build something like this...I've only ever seen one other airship and that one was a balloon."

"I think you mean a blimp," Saito corrected. "We all thought that Colbert-sensei was killed in a battle here at the academy back during the war...it's good to have him back."

"Have you talked to her yet?" Naruto asked him.

"I don't what you're talking about," Saito replied.

"Louise...you've been avoiding her since the battle last night," Naruto explained.

"I screwed up...and tried to set it right...and to be honest last night is a blur to me right now," Saito answered.

"_What about that Gallian girl that fought you both?" _Derf asked the two familiars.

"I'm not sure what to think," Saito replied honestly.

"I'm going after her," Naruto spoke up. "As soon as I find out where she is I'll be going after her...I need to confront her about this." Saito didn't say anything, partly because he agreed but knew that he would never abandon Louise especially after Sheffield had struck this close to home.

'_That expression again,' _Louise thought as she looked over at the two. _'Saito had been like that since this morning...and he's been avoiding me. Could it be because of Her Majesty...that lecherous dog...I still can't forgive him yet, letting him off so easily. I'll lose my dignity as a master...and a wife,'_ she swallowed her pride and approached them. "Saito," she called her husband.

"I'll leave you two alone," Naruto said and walked away.

"Is something wrong Louise?" Saito asked her.

"It's about the incident last night," Louise stated.

"Which one?" Saito asked nervously both knowing what she was talking about and the other things that had happened last night.

"Don't act ignorant! The incident with Her Majesty," Louise continued.

"Oh, that one? But didn't I already explain that incident to you yesterday?" Saito asked.

"Yes, I know," Louise nodded and turned away slightly. "You said it was due to the situation, right? Thinking back about it...isn't that the same as not explaining? Tell me about it clearly!"

"Erm...well...I've been forgetful lately," Saito said lamely.

"Are you trying to lie to your master? Just what kind of situation would lead to something like that happening?" Louise demanded. "Explain it to me clearly!"

"Hey Saito!" Guichi called out, unknowingly saving his friend from almost certain death and severe pain. "It's time for the Ondine Knights Squad to gather."

"O-oh right, wait for me!" Saito called as he quickly moved towards them.

"W-wait! Saito!" Louise called after him.

"I'll explain later!" Saito shouted over his shoulder as he ran. _'Even if I were to explain what happened now I know it would only end badly.'_

"Miss Valliere?" Siesta asked as she appeared at the pinkette's side.

"What is it?" Louise asked with an aggravated sigh.

"I haven't heard the results from you," Siesta continued.

"What results?" Louise asked confused.

"Did Saito manage to find you at the ball yesterday?" Siesta inquired and Louise's eyes widened at her words. "From the expression, I guess he didn't find you."

"T-that's not true, yesterday was..." Louise trailed off as she looked away.

"Are you trying to deny an ugly truth?" Siesta smiled knowingly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." voice sounded and the two girls looked over to see a gathering of the Ondine Knights in full assembly including Saito. They stood before Henrietta and a pair of honor guards whom held staffs in their hands.

"It's Lady Henrietta," Siesta smiled happily. "She's always so beautiful."

"...Yeah," Louise reluctantly agreed.

"It's a very splendid ship," Henrietta commented. "It's definitely going to become a legend of Halkeginia."

"It's an honour Your Majesty," Colbert nodded politely.

"When gargoyles appeared outside of the academy last night, I am told that this ship drove them away," Henrietta mused. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"No Your Majesty, it was not us that fought off the attackers," Colbert explained. "Saito and Naruto, the human familiars are the ones who repelled the attack last night."

"...I see," Henrietta said and looked down. "I'm afraid I have never met Mister Uzumaki and he does not appear to be here now. Saito Chevalier de Hiraga, I'm very grateful to you."

"No, it was my duty as Your Majesty's knight," Saito responded. _'And where did Naruto go? Even if he's not an Ondine Knight, he should still be here.'_

'_They have to be around here somewhere,'_ Naruto mused as he entered the academy main doors.

* * *

"You're worried," Beatrice spoke from around the corner.

"I-I don't know what you're-" Tiffa's voice was heard next.

"Please don't think I'm a fool," Beatrice interrupted. "You're worried Naruto will like someone else like _her _and me."

"I...he's my familiar...we're just friends," Tiffa responded.

"I think we both know that's a lie," Beatrice sighed. "You like him...more than that, I think you trust him."

"...He's just...I...what do you want me to say? Why do you care?" Tiffa questioned.

"I...I care...you're both my first friends...my best friends...I...I like him," Beatrice confessed. "But I'm a noblewoman and he's a commoner so things between us could never work out. And you saw the fight last night, he and that girl were trying to kill each other."

Naruto had remained silent as he listened on and hid around the corner from them. Yet again he'd found another mirror of someone from his homeworld, this time in the form of Tabitha whom had betrayed them all and fled just like Sasuke had done four years ago now. Tabitha seemed to be alone and Naruto had tried fill in that hole in her heart but after last night it appeared he had failed. He needed to go after her and sort things out...he didn't want her to end up consumed by darkness like his former best friend Sasuke had.

For right now though...

"I couldn't care less if you were nobility or not," Naruto spoke up surprising them as he stepped out from behind the corner.

"N-Naruto! Were you listening? How much did you hear?" Beatrice stammered in surprise.

"Enough," Naruto replied. "I'm going to ask you both right here and right now...do you think of me as more than a friend?"

"Y-yes," Tiffa answered for them both.

"...I'm not sure what you want me to do," Naruto said honestly.

"What do you mean?" Beatrice asked getting angry. Here they were telling him how they felt about him and he seemed to be shrugging it off like it wasn't any concern to him.

"I've never had much of a love life," Naruto responded. "Only one girl has ever confessed to me...and she was struck down a few seconds later."

_That _stopped the young princess' anger dead in its tracks; how was she supposed to respond to that? The only girl to ever admit her feelings for him had ended up dead right after? If that were true then it's no wonder he'd not know how to answer their feelings.

"...Fine then," Beatrice huffed and walked passed him. "Forget I said anything," she said as she walked away.

"Hey Beatrice! Wait!" Naruto called after her but she turned the corner and disappeared from view. "Tiffa?" he asked turning to the half-elf.

"Naruto I...you're important to me and I don't want to ruin that," Tiffa started only for her familiar to pull her into a hug. "Naruto..." she trailed off as her cheeks turned red.

"Look I'm an idiot, I wear my emotions on my sleeves and I'm told I'm kinda dense. But I'm here and I'm not going to leave your side over something as stupid as this. I think Beatrice knows that too," Naruto told her.

"...You'll stay with me? Even if we find a way to send you back to your home?" Tiffa asked nervously.

"My home is gone...this is my home now," Naruto replied.

"...Thank you," Tiffa whispered.

* * *

On the bridge of the airship _Ostland _stood Professor Colbert Jean looking out of the viewport at the academy he had once worked at. The sound of the door opening caught his attention and he turned to see a certain redheaded fire mage leaning against the doorframe.

"So you're here..." Kirche trailed off slyly and closed the door behind her.

"Ah, Miss Zerbst," Colbert greeted. "I'm making some adjustments to prepare for the next expedition," he explained only for her to move closer and press up against him.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself for you to understand? Call me Kirche," she smirked as her face drew closer to his.

"No, I'm your teacher..." Colbert tried to reason.

"Former teacher," Kirche countered as she pushed them both to the floor with her straddling him.

"No, stop Miss Zerbst," Colbert said as her face descended towards his again. "You mustn't..."

Suddenly Saito burst into the room surprising the two and he quickly closed the door behind him. He sighed once the door was closed and turned only to stop dead in his tracks when he spotted the two mages in such a compromising position.

"Ara?" Kirche blinked.

"S-Saito? Ah, well, this is..." Colbert stammered a response.

"S-sorry for interrupting," Saito backed away only for the door behind him to fly open and his pink-haired wife to tackle him to the ground from behind. Louise had been chasing him across the ship all day with what looked like a magnifying glass though Delfinger said it would strip him should she use it on him. She'd even got Siesta and Tiffa to help track him down.

"Saito..." Louise said dangerously as she pinned his shoulders down with her legs and held the magnifying glass in her right hand. "A lowly dog like you sure gave your master a hard time," she said as she focused the glass at his forehead.

"S-stop it," Saito said as he struggled to break free.

"You can't escape anymore," Louise declared. _"Last Night's Mirror, _let me see exactly what Saito did last night," an image of Saito, Naruto and Tabitha fighting from the night before appeared in the glass. "That's..." she trailed off as she and the two girls behind her watched the battle play out from the start.

"It's been on my mind all day," Saito confessed. "I keep on thinking back to what Sheffield said about Tabitha being a loyal watchdog at the academy...I can't help but think I could have done something to save her."

"Why would she even follow Sheffield's orders anyway?" Louise asked the question.

"I might have an idea why," Kirche spoke up saddened. "Tabitha is not an ordinary noble...she's a member of the Gallian royal family. Her father was the current king's younger brother and her father was murdered during the struggle for the throne. They find Tabitha an eyesore and attempted to imprison her but her mother took her place. Ever since then, her mother went insane and locked herself in her room. It was from then onwards that the king of Gallia made Tabitha a Chevalier and made unreasonable requests for her to fulfill."

"Unreasonable requests?" Saito asked.

"Slaying monsters, dangerous investigations and things like that. Didn't we fight at the Lagdorian Lake two years ago? That was too..." Kirche replied.

"So that means that the incident yesterday was also..." Saito trailed off.

"It was probably the king's orders," Kirche nodded.

"Unforgivable," Saito said angrily. "Louise, let's go to Gallia now."

"Wait, the fact that I'm safe would mean that Tabitha failed her mission, right? What'll happen to her?" Louise asked.

"I'm not sure," Kirche answered honestly. "But she might be..." it didn't take a genius to figure out what she meant by that.

"So that's how it is, huh?" a voice spoke up from the side window. Naruto sat against the window frame and looked over at the group. "So this king thinks he can mess around with Tabitha and the rest of us and get away with it, does he? Alright then, I'll take him on."

"Naruto..." Tiffa whispered.

"You can't take on an entire country," Colbert said.

"You don't know me very well, do you?" Naruto asked him almost amused. "I'm going after Tabitha and I'm going to bring her back to the academy. I'll take out any dumb moron stupid enough to get in my way too."

"What about Tiffa? She's one of Sheffield's targets too and you are her familiar. You have to protect her," Saito asked him.

"The best defence is a good offense," Naruto responded. "I'm still a ninja even if I'm no longer in my world and ninja are tools of war. From the moment Sheffield threatened Tiffa and used Tabitha I considered this a war."

"Come Saito, we need to talk to Her Majesty about this," Louise said as she turned and opened the door.

"Even if she's in Gallia, how are we supposed to find her?" Kirche asked the group.

"Leave that to me," Naruto replied.

**Author's Notes:**

Tiffa and Beatrice's feelings are out in the open now and Naruto has found out about Tabitha's past. Now Naruto prepares for war against Gallia to save Tabitha from her ruthless uncle and bring her back to the academy. If you've watched the anime you may know where I'm going with this but believe me when I say things will be different than what you expect.

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	9. The Longest Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter9: The Longest Day

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

The following morning after Louise and Saito spoke with Queen Henrietta was spent searching the grounds outside of the academy for any evidence linking to the recent attack. Henrietta had told the two that she would consult her contacts and hopefully come up with a plan to recover Tabitha.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Tiffa asked her familiar, referring to Tabitha

"...Yeah," Naruto nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"...What are your plans for the future? I mean after I graduate from the academy?" Tiffa asked, changing the subject.

"Plans for the future? Honestly...I've never really thought about it," Naruto admitted. "I mean, back in my world I wanted to become the leader of my village and protect it...I failed."

"The people in your village could use magic, correct? Maybe you should be a teacher," Tiffa suggested.

"I've been told I'm a good teacher," Naruto nodded remembering his brief time teaching Konohamaru. "But full-time? That'd get boring real fast...maybe...once this is over I might found my own shinobi village here in Tristain. It would certainly piss off the nobles and I'd still accomplish my dream."

"...And what about me?" Tiffa asked nervously.

"You...I think...I mean...I want you by my side," Naruto told her. "I know that's selfish but I can't think of simply leaving you alone in this world without me there to fight with you."

"...Thank you," Tiffa smiled.

A sudden whizzing sound caught the blond sage's ear and he looked up in surprise. Just then the most ridiculous thing in the world happened...a naked girl with long blue hair dropped out of the sky and fell into Naruto's open arms. Everyone in the area stopped and Naruto blinked as he turned his away from her body in his arms to her almost child-like face.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked as his face reddened.

"I finally found you!" the girl in his arms laughed childishly and threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Beatrice shouted in anger from the crowd of people.

"Why is it always Saito or Naruto?" Malicorne whined.

"You will save my sister right?" the blue-haired girl asked.

"Sister?" Saito asked from the side.

"Hey you! Why are you naked?" Louise demanded.

"My name is not 'you,' my name is Irukuku," the blue-haired girl replied in a huff.

"_Her name means wind," _Derf said from Saito's back.

"I don't care what her name is," Louise said angrily. "Put some clothes on already!"

"Here," Naruto said as he set her down on the ground and took off his sage coat. "This should do for now," he draped it over her shoulders to cover her. "Now what is this about a sister?"

"You have to help my sister," Irukuku pleaded.

"Your sister wouldn't happen to be...Tabitha, would it?" Naruto asked surprised the others.

"Of course," Irukuku huffed in annoyance.

"You're Tabitha's sister?" Louise asked in disbelief.

"Her hair is a dead giveaway," Naruto sighed.

"You guys will save her, won't you?" Irukuku asked them.

"I think we found our evidence," Saito commented.

"Yeah, we'll save her," Naruto grinned. "That's a promise."

* * *

Irukuku was taken inside the academy to the Ondine Knight's Headquarters at the northern wall and given some clothes to wear though she kept Naruto's sage coat.

"It was because Tabitha spared Naruto that she will receive punishment," Irukuku explained. "And her 'Chevalier' title has been taken away. Also our mother was kidnapped."

"No way," Louise muttered.

"So where is Tabitha?" Saito asked.

"She was captured too, right? That's why you're here, to get help in order to rescue her," Naruto inquired.

"I was on my way to rescue mother when...Tabitha was challenged by another mage. He defeated her," Irukuku confirmed.

"For Tabitha to be beaten..." Louise trailed off. "This mage must be very powerful."

"The enemy must be a square-class," Montmorency mused.

"Damn it, we should have chased after her," Saito said through gritted teeth.

"If we did then Sheffield would have gotten both Louise and Tiffa," Naruto responded. "I think it's about time we took the fight to them, don't you think?"

"Please, you have to save her," Irukuku begged.

"Of course we will," Malicorne said immediately standing up but he was the only one. "We are going to help, right?"

"You guys can't be, doubting her, can you?" Saito asked around them.

"Who here can prove that she is not one of Gallia's spies?" Guichi asked the question.

"I can," Naruto replied stopping the others from speaking. "Irukuku...will you allow me to read your mind?" his request surprised everyone present.

"I had forgotten you could read minds," Beatrice commented.

"If it will save my sister then yes...just...please don't judge me for whatever you find," Irukuku conceded.

Naruto nodded and stepped up behind her before placing his right hand on her head and closing his eyes. His eyes snapped open a moment later and glowed as the Rinnegan morphed into existence. Irukuku gasped she felt herself stiffen and her mouth open as images flashed through her mind. Naruto withdrew his hand a few seconds later and Irukuku's head fell forward to the desk as she tried to catch her breath.

"She's clean," Naruto confirmed. He felt that reading someone's innermost thoughts were an invasion of privacy however this time was the strangest since he had learned that this girl wasn't in fact human but was instead a _dragon_ in human form. Not only that but she was _not _Tabitha's sister but in fact Tabitha's familiar Slyphid. "Everything she said was true...well...most of it but I can understand the one little lie she told us."

"Well then," Guichi spoke up. "We, the Ondine Knights, can't just sit around and do nothing. We are going to Gallia to rescue Tabitha."

"What about the Queen? She does command you, doesn't she?" Naruto asked them. "You can't do anything without her orders, right?"

"He's right," Guichi agreed with a sigh.

"But that doesn't apply to me," Naruto added. "I'm not one of the knights and I'm not actually under her command since I am technically a mercenary."

"Which means you don't have to answer to anyone," Saito said catching on.

"Exactly," Naruto nodded.

"Even so I don't want you going alone," Saito told him.

"Tabitha has always been the one to save us," Louise spoke up. "Now it's our turn to save her."

"But we still need Her Majesty's permission," Guichi added.

"Then go," Tiffa told them. "Naruto and I will head for the border to Gallia and you can catch up when you can."

"It'll be dangerous," Naruto said to his master.

"I know," Tiffa nodded with a smile.

"We'll talk to the Queen," Saito nodded. "Hopefully I can convince her to let us go willingly...if not...well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Saito..." Louise muttered as she stared at her familiar.

**Tristain Royal Palace**

"I won't let you go to Gallia," Henrietta said clearly.

"Why, you're Highness?" Saito asked confused.

"If you go, this could trigger a war," Henrietta replied.

"War..." Saito muttered.

"You are my knights," Henrietta explained. "It doesn't matter what you want to do; your actions represent Tristain. Intelligence reports say that Tabitha is locked up as a criminal in prison; if you save a prisoner it would be considered as a hostile act by a Tristain. Do you understand?"

"I thought that might be the case," Saito nodded and to everyone's surprise removed his Chevalier cloak.

"Saito?" Henrietta asked as she stood up in surprise.

"I'll be giving this back," Saito said clearly as he wrapped the cloak up and placed on the table. "Now there won't be any trouble for Tristain, right?"

"I and Malicorne share the same opinion as the Vice Captain," Guichi chuckled slightly as he removed his own cloak followed soon by a reluctant Malicorne.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Saito smiled sadly as he stared into Henrietta's eyes. Henrietta herself didn't seem to know what to do until she rung the nearby bell and one of her guards entered the room from behind them.

"Agnes?" Saito inquired.

"Arrest these people," Henrietta gave the order to their surprise.

Saito simply stared for a moment before sighing in frustration. "Oh well...it's not like I didn't think this would happen," he then started to grin. "But it doesn't matter...because I've done what I came to do."

"And what do you mean by that?" Henrietta asked confused.

"You said that your intelligence reports have already told you about Tabitha so you knew that as soon as we found out we'd be coming to you in order to take action. But that only applies to us," Saito continued. "I came here because I knew that you had to have found something by now and didn't tell us because of the risk of causing an international incident. But...we're just the decoy," Saito was openly smiling now. "Naruto and Tiffa are probably already across the border by now; we came here today to stop you from catching on."

_That _stopped everyone in their tracks...

"Y-you knew?" Henrietta stammered in surprise.

"I didn't really have any proof until you mentioned the intelligence reports," Saito answered. "So lock me up and throw away the key because whether you like it or not, we're getting Tabitha back."

"...I see...so how were you planning to escape here?" Henrietta asked.

"There's no need," Saito shrugged. "Once Tabitha is rescued Naruto will bust us out of prison and we'll be long gone before you realise it."

"Then why tell me now?" Henrietta inquired curious.

"Because it doesn't matter," Saito replied. "Naruto is what's called a ninja...they specialize in stealth and combat. I've learned not to underestimate him; he did defeat Tabitha after all."

* * *

"Why don't you understand me?" Henrietta asked as she stared out of the window. The three former knights had been taken to a holding cell while Louise remained to talk to the Queen of Tristain. "Willing to put yourselves in danger..."

"Everyone wants to save her," Louise told her.

"I don't want to lose anyone important again," Henrietta said sadly as memories of a prince she loved flashed through her mind.

"Princess, you...what do you think, your Highness...about Saito?" Louise asked directly.

"What do I think?" Henrietta mused. "He's a very good Chevalier."

"Not as a Queen but as a friend, as a woman, please answer!" Louise held back her shout.

"Louise?" Henrietta asked.

"Are you admiring Saito as a man?" Louise asked the question. "At the ball, you and Saito..."

"...I'm so lonely, I don't have anyone to rely on," Henrietta said sadly. "I wanted to share my feelings with someone."

"With anyone?" Louise questioned further.

"I don't really know that myself," Henrietta confessed.

"You don't know..." Louise clenched her fist at her side. "Okay then, your Highness has her own thoughts...I won't say anymore. However Saito is my familiar...my husband. Siesta is one thing; she's his maid and is aiming to be his mistress. If you do anything to him, then prepare to face the consequences."

"Yes...that's right," Henrietta sighed knowingly. "To you, Saito is...a very important person. I envy you...saying that for someone...I don't have anyone. I'm sorry Louise but if it's this, Saito has to change his mind about going to Gallia. There's nothing I can do about Naruto and Tiffa but I can do something about Saito."

"I refuse to make Saito change his decision," Louise responded.

"Why?" Henrietta asked almost desperate. "The person who you hold dear has to go fight, will you do nothing?"

"It was always Tabitha who came to save us," Louise declared. "Because of that, this time we're going to save her," she removed her own cloak and folded it in her hands.

"Louise...you too...why?" Henrietta asked sadly.

"Like this, I won't be a noble," Louise replied. "I'm just Louise...Your Highness; please treat me like the others. This way, it won't bring any trouble to Your Highness and Tristain."

"Gallia, they want you're Void Magic," Henrietta exclaimed. "Tiffa is already in Gallia, I can't lose you too."

"I know, but as a noble, no...as a person I must do this," Louise said clearly.

"I see...then if you have to follow your principles then I have to follow my principles too," Henrietta closed her eyes and sighed in defeat. "Guards, arrest her," she gave the order as the two guards at the door moved to carry out the order. Just then a yellow/orange blur appeared from the side and tackled Louise before they both disappeared in the blink of an eye.

* * *

"**Rasengan," **the three former knights jumped to the side as the cell door was blown off of its hinges. Just then Naruto stepped through with Louise right behind him. "Hey guys, did you miss me?" Naruto grinned.

"You're late," Saito told him.

"Sorry, there was a bunch of evil mages outside trying to prove who had the biggest wand at the entrance," Naruto responded still grinning. _'I almost sounded like Kakashi-sensei there for a second...I wonder if he was ever telling the truth.'_

"We have to get out of here now," Louise spoke up.

"Everyone grab onto me and don't let go," Naruto ordered and the four grabbed his arms. **"Hiraishin no Jutsu," **a split second later the five were gone and the guards stormed in to find an empty cell.

"Find them!" Agnes shouted in anger.

**Tristain Southern Forest**

The five reappeared and fell to the ground in a heap. They groaned and stood up slowly before looking around. The first thing that registered was the fact that they weren't in the palace dungeon anymore but instead they seemed to be in a large forest clearing with what looked like the _Ostland _resting in the center.

"I told you not let go," Naruto sighed.

"Warn us next time," Louise bit back her shout.

"Where are we?" Saito asked.

"About five miles from the border," Naruto replied. "What I just used was a space-time jutsu created by my father...it's taken me awhile to master it over long distances...Kami I love that Forbidden Scroll's jutsu," true he couldn't use it on a large scale yet but he was learning.

"Naruto! Saito!" Tiffa's voice echoed through the clearing as they reunited with the rest of the group.

"Siesta," Saito smiled as the young maid quickly tended to his wounds.

"Did anyone notice that you flew the _Ostland _here?" Naruto asked.

"We're in the clear," Colbert replied. "Let's get aboard and head to Gallia. It'll be dark soon so we can sneak in under the cover of night and their patrols shouldn't spot us."

"_Hey Irukuku, even if your master doesn't let you reveal your true self you should do so now," _Derf spoke up catching everyone's attention. _"If you don't want to say it, I will."_

"Aw, but I promised my sister to keep this secret," Irukuku whined.

"The last thing we need right now is secrets," Naruto countered.

"Fine," Irukuku huffed and brought her hands together. _"The wind around me, change my appearance,"_ blue light engulfed her body and blinded them for a moment. Once the light died down a large blue dragon all of them recognised as Tabitha's dragon Slyphid stood in her place.

"Slyphid?" Louise asked surprised.

"_Slyphid is a Nature Dragon,"_ Derf started.

"Nature Dragon?" Saito asked over his shoulder.

"_An ancient dragon from the legends with wisdom, elegant language, and control of nature magic," _Derf explained.

"So they're not extinct," Louise said with a smile.

"We've wasted enough time already," Naruto spoke up. "Let's go save Tabitha."

**Author's Notes:**

And the rescue mission begins! As you can see Naruto has finally learned the Hiraishin no Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing and uses it to break everyone out of jail. There was one thing that always bugged me about the meeting with Henrietta and that was the fact that she knew that Tabitha was a Gallian criminal-prisoner and didn't tell them until they confronted her.

_**Translation**_

Hiraishin no Jutsu = Flying Thunder God Technique  
Rasengan = Spiralling Sphere

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	10. Damsel in Distress

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter10: Damsel in Distress

**Gallia / Airship Ostland**

"My clones didn't find anything on Tabitha but they did find out where her mother is," Naruto started as he pointed to a spot on the map on the wall. "She's been taken here to some place called Al Hambra on the eastern border of Gallia."

"That's a day away at full speed at least," Guichi frowned.

"I estimate the city's military strength is around a hundred men," Malicorne added.

"That shouldn't be too difficult to handle," Naruto countered. "I can create around two thousand clones at a time so the enemy army shouldn't be a problem if it comes down to a fight."

"We have to take Tabitha's safety into account as well as her mother's," Kirche spoke up.

"We could make a sleeping drug and feed it to the Gallian soldiers," Montmorency suggested.

"I could buy us some alcohol to get them drunk and knock them out with the drug," Guichi added.

"If the _real _enemy sees half the soldiers fall asleep then they're going to know something's wrong and possibly hurt Tabitha," Naruto countered. "I could sneak in and find them if I go alone. After that I'd use my **Hiraishin no Jutsu** to get all three of us out of the city but...I've only mastered Version One."

"That's the teleporting spell you used to break us out of the palace dungeon, right?" Saito asked.

"Yes but in order to do it I need one of these kunai as a marker," Naruto said holding up a three-pronged kunai with a seal engraved on it. "Think of as a receiver and I can summon myself and others too it. However I've only mastered Version One so it would need to be on the ground and unmoving for it to work properly."

"So you can't use it to get back aboard the _Ostland_," Saito mused. "What about its range?"

"A Hundred miles," Naruto replied. "My father could use it to travel anywhere but that was only because he mastered Version Two which allowed him to use it while the kunai was moving through the air too."

"The _Ostland_ would be spotted if it came within a hundred miles of Al Hambra," Colbert spoke up.

"If you take the _Ostland _to the border and wait for us there," Naruto continued. "I'd be able to rescue Tabitha and her mother then use my **Hiraishin no Jutsu** to regroup with the rest of you."

"Then we head for the border and run like hell before the Gallian army starts chasing us down. The _Ostland _would be waiting for us there," Saito finished.

"I'm going with you," Tiffa told her familiar.

"Tiffa, this is the enemy stronghold we're talking about," Naruto responded.

"And you're my familiar," Tiffa said back. "I'm going with you...I won't let you do this alone."

"Please tell me you've at least mastered the tree-walking exercise I taught you?"

**Gallia / Al Hambra**

Naruto and Tiffa dropped down onto the roof of a rundown building at the edge of town and looked over at the illuminated city in the silence of the night. Naruto eyes were yellow and slitted horizontally as he gazed over the dark town. He had missed the feeling of his sage mode and the additional senses he gained while using it.

"Well?" Tiffa asked nervously.

"I found her alright," Naruto confirmed. He could sense Tabitha at the very edge of his range along with another which was similar, probably her mother. "She's in the northern tower but I think there's some kind of barrier...the chakra it's using is similar to yours."

"Elfin magic," Tiffa suggested.

"Let's go," Naruto said and the two started jumping from building to building towards the northern side of the city.

* * *

Naruto and Tiffa quickly made their way to the tower and landed on the roof of a nearby building. As they jumped again however Naruto felt a ripple in the chakra of a nearby 'nightly citizen' and quickly grabbed Tiffa while in midair. A large ball of rock shot out from the side and flew at them as Naruto turned and raised on of his hands towards the ball of rock.

"**Shinra Tensei," **a deafening boom echoed through the night air as the ball slammed into them and shattered upon impact. Naruto dropped down to the ground a moment later with Tiffa still in his arms.

"Impressive," a shadowy figure commented as he stepped out of the nearby alley. "You're both good to penetrate the city's defenses so easily without raising a single alarm or being spotted by any of the guards."

"And just who the fuck are you?" Naruto shot back.

"My name is Bidalshaif," the man replied as he removed his hat, revealing his pointy elfin ears.

"An elf..." Tiffa trailed off.

"Stay back Tiffa," Naruto said and shot forward.

Bidalshaif narrowed his eyes as the blond shinobi quickly closed the distance between them. Once in range Naruto threw a punch right at Bidalshaif's face only for it to slam into some kind of white barrier around his body. Suddenly Naruto was thrown back by the white glow and crashed down beside a worried looking Tiffa.

"Naruto," Tiffa said as she knelt down beside him.

A second later 'Naruto' seemed to explode in a poof of smoke surprising the two elves. A whining noise caught their attention and Bidalshaif turned quickly as Naruto appeared behind him with a glowing blue ball of spinning chakra in his hand.

"**Rasengan!" **Naruto exclaimed and slammed the palm-sized chakra sphere into Bidalshaif's white barrier. The barrier held for a few long seconds but both realized it was going to fail so Bidalshaif pushed himself away just as the chakra sphere exploded, blowing them both back several feet.

"That was no ordinary spell," Bidalshaif commented. "That was pure magic in its simplest form given shape...not even my **Consulo** spell can last long under that kind of assault. Yet it does not appear to be a ranged spell but instead requires for the user to strike a target directly in order to ensure any kind of damage."

"You think you've got it all figured out, huh?" Naruto snorted.

"You are an enigma," Bidalshaif responded. "You can do wandless magic—something only elves and a few rare humans are capable of doing—and yet appear to be a master of war. In that last strike you used a copy of yourself—I do not know how—as a decoy to draw my attention while you moved into a better position to attack. Impressive tactic but it didn't work and now I know what to expect from you."

"You underestimate me," Naruto said with a predatory grin. "Tiffa, you go on ahead and bring down that elfin barrier. I'll be along in a minute after I deal with this Teme...don't worry, there's no guards up there."

"Are you sure?" Tiffa asked nervously looking from one to the other.

"I'll be fine, now go!" Naruto shouted back.

"Be careful!" Tiffa exclaimed as she ran into the tower.

"Why are you so certain that there is no one guarding the girl and her mother?" Bidalshaif asked curious.

"That's a secret," Naruto smiled back.

"_Elfin power sealed within the rocks,"_ Bidalshaif chanted as the ground around him glowed green. _"Abide by the ancient covenant and hear my command. Materialize as flying rocks, and destroy my enemies._ **Lapidibus Examen**," rocks and large stone titles from the ground itself started to shoot off and then descend towards the blond shinobi.

"**Fūjutsu Kyūin," **Naruto whispered as he raised his hands and the rocks started to crumble and dissolve as they impacted his chakra absorption barrier pulsing into his palms. "You're not the only one who can use chakra barriers," Naruto declared. "We're taking Tabitha back with us whether you like it or not; I won't let you hurt her anymore."

"...Why do you go so far for her?" Bidalshaif asked curious.

"Because I care for her," Naruto replied honestly.

"I see..." Bidalshaif mused.

"**Shinra Tensei," **Naruto's voice sounded as Bidalshaif was sent flying back to his surprise. He crashed into the wall of a nearby building and gasped as the wall collapsed from the impact.

'_What kind of attack was that?'_ Bidalshaif thought in surprise as he stood once more and Naruto suddenly appeared behind him with a glowing ball of chakra and wind in his hand.

"**Futon: Rasengan!" **Naruto exclaimed as he slammed the bell-like screeching chakra sphere into Bidalshaif's barrier. With a mighty explosion Bidalshaif's barrier collapsed and his broken and beaten form was half-buried in the side of the cathedral entrance.

"I-impossible..." Bidalshaif breathed out as Naruto stood over him.

"I'm not going to kill you...there's no point...but make no mistake...if you ever come after Tabitha again I will rip this country apart," Naruto said clearly.

"W-wait," Bidalshaif gasped out as he pushed himself to his knees. "W-what are you?"

"...Call me...the Sage of Six Paths," Naruto replied and turned. He didn't look back as he proceeded towards the tower and Bidalshaif collapsed into unconsciousness on the rubble-covered floor.

"There he is! Intruder!" a Gallian soldier shouted as he arrived on the scene with a dozen men standing in front of the tower.

"Get out of my way," Naruto said clearly.

"**Ignis!"** a pair of mages exclaimed as they hurled fireballs at the Rikudo-Sennin. The fireballs struck him in the chest and exploded, blowing smoke and dust everywhere. "We got him!" one of the mages cheered.

"No! Look!" a soldier yelled as he pointed towards the clearing smoke. "What is that?" he asked no one in particular an oppressive aura filled the air.

Naruto stood encased in the Kyuubi's crimson chakra with three swishing tails...

The soldiers never stood a chance...

* * *

"**Deleo!" **Tiffa exclaimed as the last of the elfin magic barriers on the highest room of the tower finally fell. She sighed in relief when the door and the wall itself stopped glowing.

"Hey Tiffa," Naruto called as he approached from the stairs behind her.

"I'm glad you're safe," Tiffa said with a smile.

"You too," Naruto nodded as he pushed the door open. "Nice work Tiffa...now let's get Tabitha and her mother and get out of here."

The room beyond the door was dark with only the candle light from the nightstand illuminating the bed. In the bed was a sleeping woman whom looked extremely ill and there, sitting in a chair at her side was Tabitha with her head in her arms. The two approached and Naruto stepped up beside the blue-haired mage.

"Hey Tabitha, wake up," Naruto said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her softly.

"Huh?" Tabitha groaned softly as she lifted her head up. Her cheeks were stained red from where she had been crying and she was clutching a book in her hands. "Naruto?" she asked looking up stunned.

"Everything is going to be alright Tabitha," Naruto nodded with a smile. "We're getting you and your mother out of here."

"Naruto," Tabitha sniffed as she cried into his chest.

"It's alright," Naruto reassured as he held her sobbing form.

This was the first time he'd ever seen her like this and it showed him that no matter how strong she may seem at times, she was still a child when it came to emotions. She'd clearly reached her breaking point and he couldn't fault her for that after everything that had happened. Tiffa watched with a small smile and a pang of jealousy as she watched the two. Truthfully she wasn't sure what to think but what she did know was that as long as she was at Naruto's side then the little things like this didn't matter.

"I want to leave," Tabitha whispered softly as tears cascaded down her face.

"Then we'll leave," Naruto agreed. "Do you or your mother need anything?" he asked her but she just shook her head. "Alright then hold on," he lifted her sleeping mother into his arms as both Tabitha and Tiffa wrapped their arms around his waist. **"Hiraishin no Jutsu," **they were gone a second later.

**Gallia / Forest**

Later in the forest north of Al Hambra the rescue team slept under the cover of night in a carriage. They'd been running through the night for hours after Tabitha and her mother were rescued and brought to them. After several long hours they'd stopped to rest and catch some sleep after checking to make sure that there were no Gallian patrols near them.

Tabitha herself sat against a tree with her gaze reading over the small book in her hand and the moonlight shining down on it. It had been given to her by Bidalshaif and as she read over it she couldn't help but compare her life to that of the book's main character...

"Tabitha?" Naruto whispered as he approached. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I can't sleep," Tabitha replied as he sat down next to her.

"What's that?" Naruto asked her as he looked down at the book.

"Ivaldi the Hero's Book of Memories," Tabitha answered.

"Is that so?" Naruto mused. "Books were never really my thing and that was back when I understood the language."

"I'll teach you," Tabitha said softly. "You saved my life...the least I can do is teach you to read our language."

"There's no need," Naruto responded. "Tabitha, you're a friend and I care about you. I'll never let anyone hurt you again; I'd gladly do it again without a second thought so don't think that you need to repay me or anything."

"Ivaldi is the name of the hero," Tabitha explained. "Lew, the name of the girl who was saved...in the past my mother read it to me."

"It sounds like us," Naruto said with a small smile.

"The sun is almost up," Saito spoke up surprising them. "We'd better get moving and get to the border before someone spots us. It's always darkest before the dawn so we should be able to sneak through the night."

"Let's get going," Naruto nodded.

**Author's Notes:**

I wasn't sure about the range of the Hiraishin no Jutsu because as far as I know it's only been used twice in the manga where Minato used it to get from the frontline to where his Genin team was fighting (also on the frontline) and when he saved Kushina from Tobi (also in the Land of Fire). I figured it was like a reverse summoning but a jutsu so I wrote it like Version One = A hundred miles and Version Two = Infinite range and useable while moving.

_**Translation**_

Senjutsu: Sennin Modo = Sage Technique: Sage Mode  
Futon: Rasengan = Wind Release: Spiralling Sphere  
Rikudō-Sennin = Sage of Six Paths  
Shinra Tensei = Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God  
Fūjutsu Kyūin = Blocking Technique Absorption Seal  
Ignis = Flame/Fire  
Deleo = Erase

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	11. Gauntlet

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter11: Gauntlet

**Tristain-Gallia Border**

The rescue party had kept moving towards the border even as the sun came up and fatigue had started to set in. They'd only had a few hours of sleep before they had started moving again and the lack of rest had finally caught up with them. Thankfully most were allowed to sleep in the carriage as the horses pulled it towards the border. It may not have been comfortable but it certainly allowed for them to catch up on some sleep, especially Tabitha.

"Hey guys, take a look at this," Guichi spoke up from the front.

"What is it?" Saito asked.

"It's the border," Guichi replied as they spotted a large chasm ahead with a wooden bridge connecting both sides. "We'll be in Tristain once we're across the bridge."

"Heads up, we got company!" Naruto shouted as he snapped his gaze up at the darkening sky.

"Turn!" Saito yelled as he pulled on the reigns and the horse quickly pulled the carriage to the side as a large curtain-covered _thing_ fell from the sky in front of them.

"What was that?" Louise coughed as the smoke began to clear.

"It's a lie, right?" Saito asked in disbelief. "Why did it turn out this way?"

"Just our luck," Naruto growled out as he hopped out of the carriage and looked up. In front of them stood a large fifty-foot tall metal golem with a huge steal sword and two red eyes.

"What is this guy?" Saito asked the question.

"Long time no see Gandalfr," Sheffield's voice rang out as she appeared on the golem's shoulder. "You didn't think that it'd be this easy to escape, did you?"

"Slyphid," Tabitha said over her shoulder.

"I've got it," Slyphid said smiling as she jumped out and transformed into her dragon form.

"Their target is me," Tabitha said as she jumped out too and levelled her staff at Sheffield herself.

"Your Highness, thank goodness you're alright," Sheffield said mockingly. "Daring to fight the Jormungandr; what admirable courage."

"Jormungandr?" Saito muttered.

"**Glacies Pilum!" **Tabitha exclaimed as a large javelin of ice formed above her and shot at Sheffield. The ice javelin soared through the air until it slammed into a rippling blue barrier across the front of the golem before crumbling to the ground.

"It's unfortunate but I'm not here for you," Sheffield sneered. "You're a hindrance."

"Enough of this already!" Naruto shouted as he finished gathering natural energy into his body and his eyes shifted into his sage mode. He jumped up above the golem and formed a spinning ball of chakra in his hand. The ball kept growing bigger and bigger until it was a good five times the size of his own body. **"Senpo: Cho Oodama Rasengan!"** he exclaimed as he struck down and slammed the massive sphere into the golem's blue barrier.

"**Lapidibus Scutum!" **Guichi's voice range out as a large wall of rock shot up and covered the group as the chakra ball exploded with ground shaking force.

"Did he get them?" Montmorencyasked from behind his arms.

"That wasn't enough," Naruto himself replied. "We need to get across the border now."

"Malicorne, get us out of here!" Saito yelled as he pulled Louise back into the carriage. Those that had jumped out earlier quickly got back in as the carriage took off and rushed across the bridge to the other side of the border.

"There's the _Ostland!_" Tiffa yelled as she pointed ahead. The _Ostland _had landed on a desert hill in front of them and they could see the airship's crew, the rest of the group waiting for them as they approached.

"You won't escape!" Sheffield's voice echoed with anger and everyone immediately turned their attention back towards the bridge. The golem had jumped across the gorge and was chasing after them.

"She's persistent, I'll give her that," Louise snorted.

"I'll deal with this," Naruto said as he hopped out of the back and landed on the road.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Tiffa shouted after him.

Naruto bit his thumb, drawing blood and quickly formed a series of seals. **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"** he slammed his hand down on the ground and seals sprang out. A massive explosion of smoke signified the summoning of a huge toad with a wipe in its mouth, a coat over its upper body and a blade at its side.

"_**Bro, what the hell are you doing, summoning me?"**_ _Gamakichi _questioned.

"Gamakichi? When the hell did you get so big?" Naruto shot back. "I was trying to summon the boss toad, your dad!"

"I _am _the boss toad now bro," Gamakichi replied. "Who are we fighting?" he then spotted the large golem in front of him and scoffed. "You're having trouble with this piece of scrap metal?"

"What the fuck are you?" Sheffield demanded. In all her years she had never seen or heard of someone being able to summon a creature of that size, even for a mage it was ridiculous.

"What kind of battle is this turning into?" Louise asked.

"It's like something out of one of my old video games," Saito commented as he watched on.

"Light her up!" Naruto shouted as he formed several hand-seals.

"_**You got it,"**_Gamakichi grinned before taking a deep breath and expelling a wave of oil at the golem.

"**Katon: Endan!"** Naruto exclaimed as he breathed flames down into the stream of oil.

"_**Katon: Gamayu Endan!"**_ Gamakichi echoed as the oil caught fire and covered the golem's form. The oiled burned for several long seconds before the golem swung with its sword and a massive shockwave snuffed out the flames. _**"It didn't work, huh? Well let's try this instead,"**_ Gamakichi quickly dashed forward and drew his blade.

"I don't know what you are but you can't defeat the Jormungandr so easily!" Sheffield shouted as the giant toad drew close.

Gamakichi swung to the side and thrust forward with his sword towards the golem's shoulder. Jormungandr turned quickly despite its size and narrowly parried the blow to his left before turning into a spin and backhanding the giant toad away. Gamakichi skidded for a moment before leaping into the air and forming a hand-seal of his own.

"_**Suiton: Teppodama!"**_Gamakichi exclaimed as he belched out three massive blasts of water. The water balls struck the golem in the chest, knocking it back as its barrier quickly absorbed the impacts. Gamakichi dropped back down the ground as Sheffield's laughter echoed across the battlefield.

"Your spells are useless!" Sheffield shouted with a smirk on her face. "It doesn't matter how hard you try you'll never be able to defeat the Jormungandr."

"You like the sound of your own voice, don't you?" Naruto shot back as he stood atop Gamakichi's head and his coat waved in the wind. "I've got a question for you though, how come that last attack my terrific friend here just did seem to have made your little toy stagger?"

"What are you talking about?" Sheffield sneered.

"It's an interesting barrier you've got around that thing but it's not invincible," Naruto grinned. "It can clearly absorb any kind of elemental attacks and to a limited effect, physical ones too. But...if I hit that thing with enough force I'll bet that it shatters like glass."

"There is no single spell in existence that can damage Jormungandr," Sheffield scoffed.

"We'll see," Naruto kept grinning as his hands formed a familiar seal. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **two clones popped into existence at his side. "Now Gamakichi!" he shouted as he and his clones jumped high above them.

"_**I got you, you Biju wannabe!" **_Gamakichi roared as he shot forward and jumped at the golem. Despite the barrier around the golem it was tackled to the ground and Sheffield was thrown from its shoulder onto the ground near the gorge.

"You'll pay for that!" Sheffield yelled. Suddenly a bell-like screech started to fill the air as the sky itself began to spin into the shape of a blue four-point star. "W-what is that?" she asked clutching her ears.

"There!" Tiffa shouted as he pointed up.

"Naruto," Tabitha muttered as they looked up and saw the blond shinobi hovering above the ground with spinning white chakra shuriken held above his head.

"Is that a spell?" Kirche asked with a wince.

"I think it's a wind spell," Louise suggested.

"**Futon: Rasenshuriken!" **Naruto exclaimed as he hurled the chakra shuriken down at golem.

"No!" Sheffield shouted in horror as the attack struck the golem in its chest.

A deafening boom was heard as the Rasengan in the center of the chakra shuriken expanded and engulfed half of the golem in a sphere of wind. Its barrier shattered after being sliced and ripped apart from all directions as the ball continued to compress in on itself. It exploded a few moments later sending broken and battered pieces of its frame in all directions as Naruto landed back on solid ground in front of the _Ostland._

"Naruto!" Tiffa shouted in worry as she ran up to him He collapsed forward and groaned as he fell into her arms.

"Damn, I must be getting rusty," Naruto grunted obviously tired. "It's been awhile since I last had a decent fight...I need to get back into shape."

"Let's go home," Tiffa said as she hoisted one arm over her shoulder and Tabitha wordlessly did the same with his other arm.

"Thanks for the help Gamakichi," Naruto said to his summon. "I owe you one."

"_**It was good to see you again Naruto,"**_ Gamakichi nodded before disappearing in an explosion of smoke.

"Sheffield is gone," Saito sighed as they entered the _Ostland._

"We'll get her next time," Louise nodded as the _Ostland _started to take off.

* * *

"This is unprecedented," King Joseph Gaul, ruler of the Kingdom of Gallia said as he watched the airship _Ostland _take flight and head deeper into Tristain. "This is unacceptable...who is this boy? I was expecting trouble from the Void Mages, not some upstart kid with the ability to use wandless magic!"

"I'm sorry milord," Sheffield apologized. "He was capable of summoning some kind of frog knight and I believe he is able to do so whenever he pleases. Not only that but he seems very proficient in elemental combat...he was capable of both fire and wind elemental magic."

"This changes things," Joseph said coldly. "With someone like that protecting not only the Void Mages but also my niece, we'll need an army just to capture them."

"Your orders, milord?" Sheffield inquired.

"Start assembling the other Jormungandr," Joseph gave the order. "I want them and the army prepared for battle within six months...we are going to war."

**Tristain / Airship Ostland**

"Is something wrong Saito?" Siesta asked as she approached the blue-clad swordsman. They were at the front of the ship looking out at the clouds around them like a normal ship would the sea.

"...I couldn't do anything other than stand back and wait for Naruto to save Tabitha," Saito sighed. "It made me realise that even after all of this time I'm still only one man."

"You can't do everything," Siesta spoke softly.

"I hate feeling powerless to do anything when my friends are out fighting," Saito confessed. "During that last battle...no...even before that at Al Hambra, I wasn't able to do anything to help."

"Is that so bad? Don't you trust the rest of us?" Siesta asked him.

"I trust everyone on this ship with my life," Saito nodded. "But if I had a choice between staying on the sidelines and fighting to protect Louise and you then I'd choose to fight."

"...Thank you Saito," Siesta smiled as she looked up into his eyes. "In any case I will continue to serve you, my master."

"Hey," Louise spoke up appeared from behind them. "Saito is no longer a chevalier, so he doesn't need a personal maid and besides he is _my _husband."

"Being a chevalier has nothing to do with this," Siesta shot back. "Besides you're no longer an aristocrat either and I remember you said back before the Sleipner Ball that I couldn't be his mistress as long as you were an aristocrat. So I don't want a 'peasant' bossing me around."

"I...I...I..." Louise huffed and turned away.

"Enough, both of you," Saito said forcefully surprising the two. "You can do this later but for now I need time to think."

"But Saito..." Louise trailed off.

"Why don't you two go back inside and get some sleep," Saito said more as an order more than a suggestion. "It'll be morning soon and we'll be back at the palace by then."

"...Alright," Louise conceded and turned away.

"Saito..." Siesta muttered as she too headed back inside the airship.

Saito then turned his attention back to the clouds as the _Ostland _sailed through them.

'_I need to get stronger...and I need to put my past behind me completely...maybe...what I really need...is to go back to my homeworld.'_

**Tristain Royal Palace**

"Your Majesty, by defying your orders and acting on our own," Louise spoke clearly as she and the others kneeled before Queen Henrietta. "We are already prepared to accept any punishment."

"Please rise, Louise," Henrietta ordered and the pinkette did so. "I will now mete you the punishment for trespassing into Gallia," she held open a large purple robe engraved with several symbols.

"This is..." Louise trailed off at the sight.

"The Royal Mantle," Henrietta confirmed and placed the cloak over the pinkette's shoulders. "With this, you are now my sister and the second successor to the throne. As a user of the Void and rendering your services to Tristain," she proclaimed.

"Your Majesty," Louise muttered softly.

"Saito," Henrietta said as she turned her gaze to him. "I'll return the chevalier mantle to you and you're not allowed to let go of it again, understood?" she said as she handed him his cloak back.

"Yes your Majesty," Saito bowed.

"Now Tabitha," Henrietta said as she turned her attention to the blue-haired girl that was still kneeling. "No...Princess Charlotte," she corrected as she kneeled next to her. "Welcome back to Tristain," she smiled.

"Thank you Queen Henrietta," Tabitha..._Charlotte _bowed her head slightly as everyone in the room started cheering. She turned and pulled Naruto into a hug. "Thank you for everything," she whispered in his ear.

"I promise I'll always protect you for as long as I'm able," Naruto told her.

Just a normal day in Halkeginia...

**Author's Notes:**

For the record the reason I concentrated more on Naruto during this story is because Saito needed a push towards getting stronger in order to protect Louise instead of relying solely on his powers as a familiar and the minimal training he's had. Remember that when the series started, Saito was just a human civilian with no real combat experience or training. Most of the time he's succeeded with nothing more than power and dumb luck. At least Naruto was trained as a ninja back in Konoha and has already fought a lot of strong opponents over the course of his Shinobi career.

That being said, I have decided to conclude this story two arcs from now instead of three. My reason for this is because of the events in the recent Naruto manga, which I unfortunately cannot adapt for use in this story and I don't want to discard them. The remaining chapters for this story are pretty much already written out and waiting to be posted except the epilogue that I will write some time in the near future for full closure.

_**Translation**_

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique  
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique  
Futon: Rasenshuriken = Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken  
Katon: Endan = Fire Release: Flame Bullet  
Katon: Gamayu Endan = Fire Release: Fire Bullet  
Suiton: Teppodama = Water Release: Gunshot  
Sempo: Cho Oodama Rasengan = Sage Art: Super Great Ball Spiraling Sphere  
Glacies Pilum = Ice Javelin  
Lapidibus Scutum = Stone Shield

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	12. Homeward Bound

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter12: Homeward Bound

**Tristain Academy of Magic **

A month passed without incident and thankfully it appeared that Gallia wasn't going to do anything against Tristain. During that time everyone spent their days settling back into the academy and trying to finally relax. Sadly it was mid-summer now and the temperature had risen to the point where even the rain was warm.

As for Princess Charlotte formerly Chevalier Tabitha...

It was early morning when Charlotte bolted upright in bed, covered her mouth with her hand and dashed into the bathroom. She vomited into the toilet for several agonising minutes before finally stopping and tearfully getting a drink from the nearby cupboard. She shook herself after downing a potion and stared at herself in the mirror, sighing at the way she looked in the morning. Ever since returning from Gallia she had been feeling sick when she woke up in the morning and kept throwing up.

Her mother rested in the infirmary where she remained under the care of the medical staff though, the times when she visited her mother always seemed asleep or simply smiled at her. Speaking of the infirmary...

'_It's getting worse,' _Charlotte mused as she got dressed. _'I need to see a healer about this; uncle could have done something to me while I was captured.'_

"Tabitha?" Tiffa asked as the blue-haired mage stepped out of her room.

"Please...my real name is Charlotte," she responded. "Is there something I can do for you Tiffania?"

"I came to ask how you were doing," Tiffa replied.

"I'm fine, there is no need to worry," Charlotte told her.

"Well you don't look fine," Tiffa commented.

"...I've been feeling ill lately," Charlotte confessed. "I was just heading to the infirmary to see if I can get something for it."

"I'll come with you," Tiffa said and wouldn't take no for an answer. "Come on," she said as she grabbed her hand and started dragging her.

Charlotte didn't resist...

* * *

"Here you are," Saito spoke up as he stepped into the main hall.

"Yeah, I've just been going over a few things," Naruto responded as he motioned to the large Forbidden Scroll of Sealing spread out across the table.

"What is this?" Saito asked him.

"A scroll containing every jutsu from my home village," Naruto replied. "It's got information on the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** which I'm trying to master but it's rather difficult. I've learned how to use Version Two but every time I do it feels like my body is ripped apart and stuck back together...it hurts like hell."

"Well that sucks," Saito shrugged and sat down.

"Did you come here for a reason or did you do it just to annoy me?" Naruto asked with a deadpanned expression.

"I was wondering if it was possible to send me back to my homeworld for a little while," Saito replied. "Not for long, probably about a week or two at the most."

"...Something like that isn't like a reverse summoning," Naruto responded. "And even if you could go home how could you get back? Let's face it, Louise can't summon you again."

"...Not unless I die and get resurrected again," Saito nodded in understanding.

"Well there is that option," Naruto smiled cheerfully.

"I'm not going to kill myself just to be summoned back to this world," Saito deadpanned.

"Good because even though I have the Rinnegan I still don't know how to resurrect people," Naruto nodded. "Now that being said I could..._maybe..._send one of my kunai to your world and..._maybe..._be able to use the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** to take a small number of people there."

"Can that work?" Saito asked hopeful.

"I don't see why not," Naruto mused. "Take a look at this," he unfolded the scroll until he reached the very end of it and most of it was on the floor. "This jutsu here," he pointed at the very first jutsu listed on the scroll.

"...**Izanagi**?" Saito asked confused. "I don't follow mythology much but isn't that a god or something?"

"I don't really know," Naruto shrugged. "But take a look at what it says," he pointed at the kanji around the images. "**Izanagi** is a Kinjutsu capable of being used by an Uchiha whom has absorbed the power of a Senju. This ability is able to bend reality itself and twist whole dimensions at the cost of a single Sharingan which would close forever," he quoted.

"But you're not an Uchiha," Saito commented. "Could you use this jutsu?"

"According to this the Uchiha and Senju clans are distant descendants of the Rikudō-Sennin," Naruto replied. "The Rikudō-Sennin also had the Rinnegan like me and Uchiha Itachi also granted me some of his power. I might just be able to do it...maybe."

"Maybe?" Saito asked.

"Well there are a lot of things that could wrong," Naruto looked sheepish as he spoke. "I mean we're talking about punching a hole between dimensions large enough to throw a single kunai through. Don't you think that's a little dangerous?"

"...What are the odds that you can actually do this?" Saito asked hesitantly.

"I'd say...probably one in a million," Naruto answered honestly. "But..." he grinned. "It wouldn't be the first time I've done the impossible."

"You mean..." Saito trailed off.

"Just leave it to me," Naruto nodded with a grin. "I'll master this jutsu in two weeks."

Neither noticed a stunned Siesta hiding around the corner listening in...

* * *

"What do you mean Saito is leaving?" Kirche shouted in surprise.

"I saw him and Naruto talking about opening some kind of portal back to Master Saito's homeworld," Siesta explained.

"But why? Why now?" Montmorency asked confused.

"Maybe he finally got fed up with everything?" Guichi suggested.

"That doesn't sound like him," Montmorency responded.

"What do we do?" Gimli asked the question.

'_Saito, you stupid dog,'_ Louise thought worriedly. "I'm going to ask Saito what this is about."

* * *

Saito stood on the ballroom balcony staring out at the night sky and thinking about his homeworld. Japan had a rich history and culture spanning centuries but as much as he missed it, he couldn't help but think back on how dull life on Earth really was. It was the same thing day after; wake up in the morning, get dressed, go to school, come home, go out with friends, sleep and repeat. It was the same old stuff again and again until Louise summoned him to Halkeginia.

When that happened everything had changed and his first reaction was to try and find a way back to Earth. Over time he stopped caring about going back and fell in love with Louise. He had decided to stay and had never regretted that decision, despite the seemingly harsh challenges that had arisen as of late.

His parents had died in a car accident a year before Louise summoned him and he had moved in with his grandmother shortly after. She had died six months later do to a stroke and Saito had been left seemingly alone with no one to care for him. He was still in school and couldn't support himself even with his part-time job and his family's money. Then there was the whole mess with child services...he was on the verge of dropping out of school when Louise summoned him and made him her familiar.

Thinking back on it now it was quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to him and he was thankful for that at least. Now he was a knight in the service of a real queen, married to one of the most powerful women to have ever lived and had his own personal maid-mistress. He couldn't help but smile as he descended into the memories of his time here on this magical world with two moons.

"Saito?" Louise's voice spoke softly from behind him. He turned and saw her approach with a sad look on her face. "You wish to return to your homeworld, don't you?"

"...Yes," Saito nodded knowing there was no denying it.

"And what about us? What about me?" Louise asked him plainly.

"Well..." Saito let a small grin grace his lips. "I was planning on taking you with me and show you my world like you've shown me yours," his reply surprised her.

"You would take me with you?" Louise questioned.

"I'd take you to the ends of the universe if you wanted," Saito replied. "Would you like to go?"

"...I'll admit it is tempting," Louise mused. "But I don't know...it might not even be possible."

"Naruto will make it possible," Saito countered. "He has a knack for doing what others think is impossible."

"That's right," Louise muttered.

Naruto was another factor in all of this since he had some rather ridiculous abilities that even she was astounded by. In close combat he was as strong as Saito and they both knew that since they sparred regularly. He could also do wandless magic which was rare but not unheard of, the elves especially preferred wandless magic but it was rare for humans to master it. His magical ability and power was equal to her classmates and herself judging by the spell that destroyed Jormungandr and if it came down to a ranged fight between the two then she knew that they would end up killing each other.

It was strange since Naruto appeared to be able to use various elements, having mastered wind to an insane degree and it was almost certain death to face him in hand-to-hand combat. His 'master' Tiffania on the other hand had no offensive or defensive strength at all, instead being able to manipulate memories and use limited elfin magic. It was almost as if all of their strength from their familiar bond was concentrated solely in Naruto while a small amount was in Tiffania unlike the equal power shared between Saito and Louise.

That was an issue for another time however...

"What do you say Louise? Are you ready to go where no mage has gone before?" he said half jokingly.

"...Alright I'll go," Louise nodded with a smile. "It sounds like fun...and terrifying at the same time."

"I'd be worried if you weren't frightened," Saito smiled back.

* * *

Two weeks later Naruto sat in the center of the courtyard and was gathering natural energy from his surroundings in preparation for the almost godly feat he was about to attempt. It wasn't perfect because—to his disbelief—he quite simply didn't have enough chakra to make it effective in a fight however he was confident he could open a _small _tear between the worlds enough to transport one of his kunai through. Tiffa sat opposite him in order to supply additional chakra for the jutsu since unlike the others she was half-elf and had a much larger chakra supply than they did.

Saito stood off to the side with Derf wrapped up and strapped to his back along with a bag carrying everything he planned on taking with him. Louise stood beside him dressed in her new princess robes and behind them were the rest of their 'Gallia Rescue Party' as they were being called now. Even Charlotte was there though Naruto had noticed that she seemed to be nervous about something despite hiding it well...

"You're not leaving without me," the familiar voice of Henrietta spoke calmly freezing the group.

"Your Highness...what are you..." Louise started.

"You didn't really think I wouldn't find out about this, did you Louise?" Henrietta asked.

"Of course not your Majesty however your place is here," Louise replied.

"The council should be able to keep things together until we return," Henrietta reasoned. "Agnes will be coming with me as my personal guard," she said while gesturing to the knight captain at her side. "Are we ready to leave?" she asked cutting off whatever Louise was going to say.

"Almost," Naruto answered calmly as his eyes snapped open and his Rinnegan glowing.

He stood slowly as Tiffa backed away and held out his hands at his side. In his left hand a glowing black void appeared while in the right hand a glowing white light shone brightly. He slammed the two together with his hands and an echoing boom was heard as they mixed together.

"Now!" Tiffa shouted.

"**Izanagi!"** Naruto exclaimed and was blown back as the vortex expanded and the contracted into a small glowing tear seemingly flouting in the air. Beatrice helped him stand as everyone observed the flouting tear in the barrier between dimensions but no one dared approach it.

"Naruto?" Saito asked hesitantly.

"I think I did it," Naruto nodded and approached. He pressed his finger across the rigid line and bit his lip before pulling back. He pulled out one of his three-pronged kunai and inside the flattest part of the tear and pushed it through slowly. It took a few seconds but he was eventually able to push the whole kunai through the tear and then stabbed another kunai into the ground beneath him. **"Hiraishin no Jutsu," **he disappeared a second later. He then reappeared another few seconds and nodded to them. "Alright it's done; anyone that's coming better do so now because I'm only doing this once."

"Are you sure you've got the right world?" Saito asked him.

"I'm sure," Naruto confirmed. "Now let's go already."

"You heard him, let's do this," Saito nodded and grabbed hold of his arm.

"**Hiraishin no Jutsu,"** almost everyone else in the courtyard took a hold of him and they all disappeared a split second later leaving only the teachers behind.

Seven minutes later the tear between worlds closed itself...

**Japan: Tokyo**

In a quiet and unoccupied alley and seemingly unnoticed by the city's inhabitance the group appeared. Almost immediately they all fell to the floor and tried to regain their bearings before examining their surroundings. Saito looked around and saw people walking by the alley seemingly not noticing the group and continuing on about their daily lives.

"I'm back," Saito said with a light laugh as he looked stepped out of the alleyway and looked around at the tall buildings, the passing people dressed in dozens of different outfits from sailor uniforms to business suits.

"So this is your homeworld?" Louise asked coming up to his side. A few people walked around them, giving them only a passing before continuing on seemingly unconcerned at all.

"It's amazing," Siesta said with sparking eyes.

"Yeah...see that over there," Saito said as he nodded towards a passing box on four wheels seemingly pulling itself. "That's called a car; it uses an engine like the _Ostland _and the _Zero _to push it across the ground."

"How are we going to blend in?" Naruto asked the question. "I mean Tiffa and I can **Henge** ourselves into foreigners but...that might not be best for you."

"One problem at a time," Saito responded and looked around. "We'll need money to buy new clothes for the others; they kinda stick out dressed like they are."

"Leave the money problem to me," Naruto said unconcerned. "I'll take care of it."

During his training trip with Jiraiya he had picked up the talents of a true thief capable of stealing what he needed to survive just in case. All he had to do was create a few shadow clones, **Henge **them into different people and steal money from any passing arrogant bastard stupid enough to be targeted by him.

Such was the life of an inter-dimensional ninja...

**Author's Notes:**

I will say it again; I am _not _using Season Four of the series in this story starting with the 'summer vacation' in Japan. As for Izanagi; after seeing what Madara and Tobi are able to do with the Rinnegan in recent manga chapters, I say it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that it could create an inter-dimensional portal.

_**Translation**_

Rikudō-Sennin = Sage of Six Paths  
Henge = Transformation  
Hiraishin no Jutsu = Flying Thunder God Technique

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	13. A Day at the Beach

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter13: A Day at the Beach

**Japan: Okinawa**

"I've never seen the ocean before," Tiffa squealed as the group stood atop the hill overlooking the beach below. "I've always wanted to see this."

"I've been to the beach once before but that was years ago," Naruto nodded.

"Tiffa, you've never seen the ocean?" Louise asked surprised.

"No, since I've always lived in the forest I've never been anywhere near the sea," Tiffa replied.

"The ocean's really nice," Montmorency told her. "Especially at night when it's mysterious and romantic."

"Montmorency, would you like to walk the beach with me at night to gaze at the stars?" Guichi asked with one of his sparkling smiles and a rose in his hand.

"Not with the Order of Perverts," Montmorency huffed and turned away. Guichi appeared saddened before he turned and left dejected,

"Why don't you forgive him already?" Kirche asked. "The incident with the bathhouse was like a lifetime ago."

"He'll only get full of himself if I forgave him now," Montmorency shrugged.

"I couldn't agree more," Louise nodded.

"Hey, come on now. This vacation is the perfect opportunity to fix relationships," Kirche reasoned.

"Hey guys, what are they wearing?" Malicorne spoke up and pointed down at the people on the beach. They all wore a variety of clothes but more often than not there were only bikinis and shorts showing off far more than what they would consider the norm.

"W-what?" Louise asked with reddened cheeks when she saw their state of dress.

"Is something wrong?" Saito asked confused.

"What are they wearing?" Louise demanded. "A better question would be what aren't they wearing?"

"They're wearing swimwear," Saito replied suddenly nervous. "Why?"

"This is...this is..." Agnes muttered from the side. "We are not wearing something like that!"

"Saito, I love your world," Guichi praised with a beam smile.

"I thought it was underwear," Malicorne commented stunned.

"Of course not," Saito shrugged back with a grin. "Oh this brings back such pleasant memories."

"Her Majesty will not be wearing such scandalous cloth," Agnes spoke firmly.

"I don't mind," Henrietta reasoned. "It would seem strange if I wore my civilian clothing...we are trying to blend in and not arouse suspicion after all."

"B-but your Highness-" Agnes started.

"I have spoken," Henrietta countered firmly.

"Alright then I'll go and buy some swimsuits from the shop," Naruto spoke up. He'd have to create a Henge'd clone to get the girls' swimwear too but that shouldn't be a problem.

"Where are we going to change?" Siesta asked.

"...I don't see any changing rooms," Saito mused. "We'll change here out of sight of everyone."

* * *

"The ocean...it's so big and blue," Tiffa said stunned her foot stepped into the chilling water. She was now dressed in a green one-piece that just barely managed to contain her overly large bust.

"It's salty too," Siesta commented as she licked a drop of water from her fingers. She along with the rest of the girls including Agnes and Henrietta were wearing bikinis and the guys were 'trying' to keep their eyes off of them. They were all wearing nothing but swimming shorts causing a few of the girls to keep glancing at them from the corner of their eyes.

"Siesta...aren't you full of yourself?" Louise sent a small glare not at Siesta but at the maid's bust which was considerably larger than her own. Siesta just smirked knowingly and splashed some water over at the pinkette. "Siesta!"

"We're ignoring status, right?" Siesta asked as she moved deeper into the water.

"Stop being so cheeky!" Louise shouted back as she ran after her, throwing water as she went.

"I've never been gladder to be alive than today," Gimli commented dazed.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. Saito, I love your world," Guichi said with a grin.

"So what now?" Naruto asked looking over at his fellow human familiar.

"We're going to split watermelons," Saito said with a shrug. "You have to cut it in half with a stick while blindfolded."

"Sounds easy enough," Naruto commented.

"Only to those who can fight while blind," Saito nodded.

Henrietta went first but was unable to hit the watermelon while Agnes managed to cut one clean in half. Kirche ended up falling over and Siesta ended up hitting Malicorne in the side by accident. Naruto managed to cut it and so did Saito. Guichi took a little while longer but he did it in the end along with surprisingly Malicorne. Gimli was next but he couldn't hit it and finally Montmorency was able to cut it in half.

The sun was beginning to set when...

"Louise..." Saito said as he turned and stared at his wife.

"W-what?" Louise asked as she looked away. She didn't hate wearing the bikini but she hadn't felt comfortable with so many males staring at her including her husband even if he had seen her in less. Then again she herself was getting an eyeful since all Saito was wearing was some swimming shorts displaying the muscles all over his upper body. He had certainly changed over the last two years since she met him and she would be lying if she said she didn't like the physical results of his training.

"Well, ah...I thought you looked good in that swimsuit," Saito said making her blush again.

"W-what are you saying all of a sudden?" Louise stammered as she turned away from him.

* * *

Tiffa awoke with a start and sat up straight. No one had seemed to notice as she got up and took a look around at the others in the room. They had stopped at a local inn for the night before they'd start their journey to a city that Saito had called Kyoto in the morning. Since they were all in one room both boys and girls, she noticed that Naruto was absent.

Montmorency wasn't in her own futon but in Guichi's while Siesta was curled up next to Saito. Louise and Henrietta were missing and Agnes was sleeping next to the door. Kirche, Charlotte, Gimli and Malicorne appeared to be sleeping alone in their own futons but Naruto's was notably empty.

Tiffa concentrated chakra to her ears and closed her eyes to focus. Suddenly she could hear everything within a mile of her and 'heard' the soft breaths of everyone in the inn and the neighboring area. However she heard several deeper breaths of those that were awake and only one of them was coming from the beach. She quickly changed into something decent and left the room as quietly as she could, making sure not to wake anyone.

When she reached the beach she saw a human silhouette sitting on the sand and staring out at the ocean with the moon reflecting off of it. As she approached she saw that it was indeed Naruto sitting there with one leg stretched out on the sand and the other pulled in. She wordlessly sat down beside him with her knees pulled into to her chest and the two just sat their gazing out as the calm waves splashed a few feet in front of them.

"Did you have fun?" Naruto asked after a long silence.

"Yes," Tiffa nodded. "I've never been to the beach before and I've always wanted to see new places."

"...Today made me think about what I'm going to do with my life now," Naruto said with a sigh.

"And?" Tiffa asked him curious.

"When we get back and after everything is settled I'm going to found my own shinobi village and teach people how to use chakra without a wand. They'll probably be mostly commoners wanting to learn magic," Naruto replied.

"You're talking about a revolution," Tiffa commented.

"Yes I am," Naruto nodded.

"And what if the Queen tries to stop you?" she asked.

"She won't," Naruto said clearly.

"You seem sure about that," Tiffa muttered.

"She may look like a real princess but I've met my share of princesses and I know that look in her eyes, when there's a crisis. She'll do what she has to do even if others think it's a bad idea," Naruto explained. "She knows that the situation in Tristain needs to change, especially with the war against Gallia coming."

"And I'll be right there by your side, right?" Tiffa asked hesitantly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Naruto smiled as he draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her in closer to him.

They didn't return to the inn that night...

* * *

On the roof of the hotel Louise and Henrietta sat staring up at the stars and the _only _moon in the night sky. Louise still remembered back when she first met Saito and the memory of not originally believing that he came from another world that was not her own. Now here she was staring up at solid proof that she was not on her homeworld anymore.

And then there was the issue with the Queen...

"You love him, don't you?" Louise asked as she stared up at the moon.

"...Yes, I love Saito," Henrietta admitted.

"What happened to us Your Highness? Where did it all go wrong?" Louise asked as her mind drifted back to simpler times. Times when they were children playing in a field of flowers with not a care in the world. It was so much easier back then with no wars, no worries, no anger, no hatred and no death.

"I don't know," Henrietta replied sadly. "Louise...as Saito's wife and second successor to the throne I need to ask something of great value to you."

"...What is it?" Louise asked as she finally turned her gaze on her childhood friend.

"I ask that you allow Saito to grant me an heir to the throne," Henrietta said clearly.

"W-what?" Louise recoiled at the request.

"There was another reason I came with you all to this strange world," Henrietta explained. "After you returned from Gallia my council started suggesting that I find a suitor to produce an heir. Now that I have reached the age of womanhood they have started hosting dances and introducing me to their sons."

"So you want Saito too..." Louise trailed off.

"Saito would make an excellent king," Henrietta said honestly. "But he is also your husband and therein lies the problem. According to the old laws a nobleman is allowed to take on more than one spouse if he is the last of his line."

"Of which he is," Louise muttered and turned away. "Do you realize what you are asking of me?"

"Yes," Henrietta replied softly.

"...I can't do it," Louise said with her back to the Queen.

"Louise...please..." Henrietta pleaded.

"No," Louise turned back with tears streaming down her face. "I love Saito...you can't just ask this of me after everything we've been through. Prince Wales's death...the fight with Wardes and the war with Albion have changed us so much. I've sacrificed a lot for you and Tristain but...what you ask for is too much."

"...Will you at least consider it?" Henrietta asked quietly.

"...Maybe," Louise whispered back as she turned away and headed back inside the hotel.

"Thank you for everything you've done Louise," Henrietta said sadly as she watched her friend go.

**Japan: Kyoto / Temple**

"Are you sure you want me here for this Naruto?" Tiffa asked as she followed the blond Jinchuuriki into the quiet and clearly empty temple.

"You are my partner so yes I want you here by my side during this," Naruto nodded as they walked silently deeper into the temple.

As they approached the doors to the main hall the doors slowly opened up revealing what looked like a meditation room with candles and plants littering the room. At the far end of the hall was an old man with a long gray beard sitting on his legs with his hands resting on his knees and his eyes closed. Naruto continued walking towards the old man with Tiffa following his lead and the doors closed behind them of their own accord. Finally the two blonds stopped in front of the old man and waited as he let out a deep sigh.

"I must say it is rather unusual for two such as yourselves to come to this temple," the old man said with a frown. "A sage suppressing a terribly dark spirit and touched by death itself along a young princess of noble and foreign blood maintaining balance. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

"I wish to tame my demons," Naruto declared.

"...Interesting," the old man mused. "You wish to cast away your hatred, your anger...your darkness. It's a fool's errand that you seek; to cast away your darkness would destroy half of everything you are. That is not the correct answer that you seek...no, what you desire is not that but something far greater."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confused.

"I think he means that you are made of both light and darkness. Both of them together make you whole," Tiffa replied. "Maybe you should try accepting your darkness and balance it with the light."

"And how do I do that?" Naruto asked.

"You already have for the most part," the old man spoke up again. "You've already accepted your darkness however it still tries to consume you...you will have to face your 'demons' yourself for control."

The old man slowly got up from the floor and turned towards the wall behind him. He pushed against the wall slightly and a click was heard before the 'wall' swung open to reveal an empty white room beyond with a yin-yang symbol engraved in the center. The old man stood to the side and nodded to them as they passed.

"This is..." Naruto muttered.

"Rely on each other and you will both survive the challenges ahead. I wish you luck young sage," the old man concluded and exited the room, closing the 'wall' behind him.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked as he sat down on the yin side of the symbol.

"Yes," Tiffa nodded as she sat down on the yang symbol.

"Then let's get the party started," Naruto grinned as the symbol lit up, enveloping them in light.

**Author's Notes:**

There's not really much to say here other than I hope you the chapter.

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	14. My Heart is a Battleground

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero or anything else.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter14: My Heart is a Battleground

**Jinchuuriki Seal**

"Oh my aching head," Naruto groaned as he rose to his feet. Looking around he saw that he was in what looked like an empty Konoha before Pein's attack. "Did anyone get the name of that moon that hit me?"

"Always with the jokes, aren't you?" an eerily familiar voice questioned snidely. Naruto turned and saw that the newcomer looked like one of his shadow clones only with darker eyes.

"Who are you and why are you wearing eyeliner?" Naruto asked as a kunai slipped into his hand from his sleeve-spring.

"I'm you, moron," the doppelganger sneered at him.

"Have you got a name?" Naruto asked him.

"Call me...Yami," he replied. "I'm the _real_ Naruto, the one you keep buried and the one who embodies all of your hatred."

"So all I have to do is kick your ass, right? And then I should be free of any hatred for the Kyuubi to grab onto with its bloody claws. Sounds easy enough," Naruto shrugged unconcerned.

"Do you really think it will be that easy? I am _you_ so I can do everything you can do and I know everything you know. You can't beat me so easily!" Yami shouted in anger.

"...You didn't really think I would come here alone did you?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"What?" Yami blinked as Tiffa appeared behind him with a black crow on her shoulder. "You...that crow...no."

"What is this?" Tiffa asked confused as she looked at the crow's eyes.

"Those eyes...wait, don't tell me-" Yami's eyes widened in surprise as the crow seemed to enter Tiffa's mouth and push its way down her throat. She stiffened as Yami charged at her. "No!" the shadow creature shouted as she rushed at her only for Naruto to jump at him and land a punch to his face, knocking him aside.

"You alright Tiffa?" Naruto asked over his shoulder.

"Yes," Tiffa rasped out as she stood and looked up. Both Naruto and Yami could only gape at her as _both _of her eyes turned red and the pupils shifted into the shape of a black shuriken.

"That's the Mangekyo Sharingan," Naruto said in disbelief.

"Clearly that prick Itachi left something for us," Yami gritted out in anger.

"Naruto...let me handle this," Tiffa said as her Sharingan started spinning. **"Kotoamatsukimi!" **she exclaimed and Yami suddenly stopped moving.

"Damn...you..." Yami dissolved into chakra a second later and it drifted into Naruto.

"Good job Tiffa," Naruto smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He felt complete again, something he had not felt since waking up in the hospital after failing to retrieve Sasuke the first time.

"...Thank you," Tiffa nodded and her Mangekyo Sharingan retracted to the regular Sharingan.

"It looks like you still need time to use those eyes of yours properly," Naruto mused. "I'll continue on from here...rest now and catch up later, okay?"

"Okay," Tiffa agreed.

Naruto smiled before suddenly the world around him shifted and he was in what looked like a large chamber in a sewer with a massive gate behind them. Behind the bars was a large fox with nine tails and glaring red eyes. The Kyuubi roared as red water started to leak out of the bottom of the cage doors.

"You're looking as ugly as ever," Naruto quipped as he smiled at the fox.

"**Naruto...you...where's the **_**real**_** you? I can't sense him,"** Kyuubi questioned.

"You're looking at the real me," Naruto countered as he ripped off the paper that covered the seal on the gate.

"**What are you trying to do?" **Kyuubi demanded.

"What the fuck does it look like?" Naruto asked back as he opened his jacket and rolled up his sleeve to reveal the seal on his stomach and the key on his arm.

He pressed the key to the seal on his stomach and turned, releasing it and forcing it open. The seal on the gate also retracted, spiraling out until it was fully open and just as it happened, the Kyuubi knocked the gates wide open. Kyuubi roared at him, blowing him back and send him flying through the air down the massive corridor.

"Damn you have seriously bad breath," Naruto said in mock disgust.

"**Finally trying to take control of my powers, are you?" **Kyuubi sneered at him.

"Bring it on!" Naruto shouted with a grin.

"**It's about time," **Kyuubi snarled as chakra started to gather in front of his mouth. **"I've been waiting for this day when I would finally be able to deal with you without that meddlesome seal."**

"I won't let you win here!" Naruto shouted as he took out two three-pronged kunai and threw one down the corridor.

"_**Bijudama!"**_ Kyuubi snarled out as the ball of chakra launched from his mouth.

"**Jikūkan Kekkai!"** Naruto exclaimed as the seal on his kunai lit up and absorbed the blast. The sewer shattered as the blast exploded down the corridor and shattered the mindscape into a wipe void covered in water. "That was too close," he said as he touched down the floor.

"**Your father did the same thing when I used the Bijudama against your village," **Kyuubi growled out.

"Then you're going to love this!" Naruto shouted as he hurled the kunai at the demon's head. **"Hiraishin no Jutsu,"** he appeared where the kunai was and formed a massive sphere of spinning chakra. **"Senpo: Cho Oodama Rasengan!" **he struck down only to hit one of the beast's tails.

"**You really think you can win?"** Kyuubi roared as he blasted the blond away and brought his tails down on the young sage.

"I wouldn't have taken off the seal if I didn't, **Hiraishin no Jutsu**," Naruto shot back as he flashed to where his kunai had landed. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,"** he formed two clones and charged his most powerful attack. **"Futon: Rasenshuriken!"** he exclaimed as he hurled the spinning chakra shuriken at the fox.

Kyuubi's eyes widened as the chakra shuriken slammed into his side and expanded into a ball of destructive wind which engulfed most of his body. He collapsed onto his back and roared in pain from the blow, having not expected his blond container to be a serious threat.

"Now!" Naruto shouted as a ghost-like version of himself sprang up from his shoulder and grabbed hold of the Kyuubi's chakra and tried to pull it away from the fox.

"**No,"** Kyuubi growled out and sent some of his hatred into his chakra down the connection between them.

"No!" Tiffa exclaimed as she appeared from the side and cut the connection between the Biju and the blond Jinchuuriki with her wand.

"**You," **Kyuubi growled as he backed off and gathered chakra at its mouth again. **"Bijudama!" **he bellowed as he launched the chakra blast at her.

"**Shinra Tensei!"** Naruto called out as he jumped in between them and created a gravity barrier around him and Tiffa.

"**You dare to interfere in my moment of triumph? I'll smash your bodies and devour you! There won't be anything left of you once I'm done!" **Kyuubi roared as he lashed out with his tails, releasing large—enormous—shockwavesand literally blasting them away. **"You don't have what it takes to control me! You're nothing more than a tiny fragment of my hatred!"** Kyuubi roared at his Jinchuuriki.

"I'm more than your container!" Naruto shouted back as Tiffa fell to her knees at his side.

"_**Kyuubiko Endan!"**_ Kyuubi unleashed a large stream of fire from its mouth at the two blonds.

"**Fūjutsu Kyūin," **Naruto strained as he held up his hands and absorbed the flames.

"**You can't win Naruto! Not even with that half-breed helping you! Eventually you will tire, your chakra reserves will be gone and then I'll move in for the kill. You're going to die today, boy!" **Kyuubi roared. **"Bijudama!"**

"No!" Tiffa shouted as black chakra sphere distorted and was pulled into a small vortex of time and space. **"Kamui!"**

"**I am a mass of pure chakra, little girl!"** Kyuubi sneered almost annoyed at her abilities. **"I am not like the other Biju!"**

"We can't outrun him, we can't kill him," Naruto muttered. "He's relentless."

"But not invincible," Tiffa said with clenched fists. "We can beat him."

"You're right," Naruto nodded and two clones popped into existence at his side. "Let's end this," he said as the clones started concentrating chakra into his hand. **"Futon: Rasenshuriken!" **Naruto shouted as he hurled a spinning chakra shuriken at the fox.

"**Not that again," **Kyuubi growled and quickly backed off. The fox quickly dodged and the jutsu expanded into a spinning sphere of destruction though Kyuubi had clearly escaped its radius. **"That won't work against me!"**

"That may not but this sure as hell will!" Naruto shouted back from above. In his hand above his head was a spinning yellow chakra shuriken with a white core and the sound it was giving off wasn't the bell-like ringing that they were used to but a loud screech that echoed through the void. **"Futon: Rasenkamikaze!"** he hurled the chakra shuriken down at the surprised demon fox.

"**What?" **Kyuubi cried out in surprise as the chakra shuriken struck him dead-center in the side.

The sphere in its center expanded, encasing the demon fox and everything else within a ridiculous ten mile radius. Naruto appeared just outside the sphere of destruction with Tiffa in his arms via a quick **Hiraishin no Jutsu** and firmly planted his feet on the ground. The spinning ball of death was trying to pull them in but Naruto used chakra to keep him in place and held the clinging Tiffa tightly to his chest. Eventually the ball exploded outwards and knocked the pair to the ground as the large shockwave washed over them.

Naruto blinked to stop seeing spots and took a look at the center of the ten-mile wide crater he had just created. Kyuubi lay in unmoving on the ground with its chakra flickering from its form and it looked like he was struggling to shrug off the damage from that last attack. Naruto threw another three-pronged kunai at the demon fox and quickly used **Hiraishin no Jutsu** to appear next to the fallen Biju. He quickly grabbed its fur and pulled, apparently ripping a spiritual Kyuubi from its body.

"**No! I won't allow it!" **Kyuubi roared and tried to stand but it was already too late.

"I have you now!" Naruto shouted as he ripped the Kyuubi's chakra from its body. The chakra turned yellow in colour and wrapped around his body, taking a rather unusual shape. The seal on his stomach change, forming a necklace-like magatama and connected with the two spirals on his shoulder pads creating a very familiar image to his opponent. The key was engraved along his right arm and he blinked in surprise at his new form.

"**You're...the Rikudō-Sennin!" **Kyuubi snarled in anger. The demon fox roared into the air and gathered _ungodly _amounts of Youki above into a single massive black sphere.

"This time we win," Naruto declared and brought the key to the seal on his stomach.

"**No!" **Kyuubi roared as the blond twisted the seal. A split second later dozens of interlocking torii sprang up from the floor and restrained the wounded demon fox. **"I won't forget this Naruto," **Kyuubi growled as a cage formed around him and he disappeared into the darkness beyond.

"It's finally over," Naruto sighed in relief.

"Not yet it's not, ttebane" a new _female_ voice spoke from behind him. The blond turned quickly and saw of all things a woman with long crimson hair and green eyes smiling at him.

"Who are you?" Naruto questioned as Tiffa approached and stopped at his side with a worried look on her face.

"Take a guess," the woman smiled.

"...No, you can't be," Naruto's eyes suddenly widened as a thought cross his mind.

"Figured it out yet?" the woman asked still smiling.

"...Mom?"

**Author's Notes:**

Hi everyone, I'm back and I should be starting to update my fics again. I had surgery done on me last month and I've been bedridden ever since. It's a pain (literally) but I should be back to normal shortly. Anyway here's the confrontation you've all been waiting for between Naruto, Tiffa, Yami and the Kyuubi (Kurama).

In case you're wondering I picked the title of this chapter from the song 'Passion' in Kingdom Hearts II because it seemed to fit with the chapter-long running battle between Naruto, Tiffa, Yami and the Kyuubi in Naruto's body AKA his heart and soul. I'm sure some of you are going to complain about me giving Tiffa Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan from Itachi's crow after I've already given Naruto the Rinnegan from his familiar powers/Itachi-Nagato confrontations but I like it like this and I enjoyed writing it, especially when Tiffa beat Yami.

I think I've mentioned it in this story at some point that the human familiars and their void mages are balanced. Where Louise is a long-range combatant with god-like powers to destroy anything she targets, Saito is a close-range juggernaut that can't be beaten. Similarly Tiffa has almost no actual fighting ability so it stands to reason that her familiar AKA Naruto would have far more skill in the art of war than either Louise or Saito alone.

_**Translation**_

KotoamatsukimiDistinguished Heavenly Gods  
Kamui = Might of the Gods  
Bijudama = Tailed Beast Ball  
Kyuubiko Endan = Nine-Tailed Fox Flame Bullet  
Jikūkan Kekkai = Time–Space Barrier  
Hiraishin no Jutsu = Flying Thunder God Technique  
Futon: Rasenshuriken = Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken  
Futon: Rasenkamikaze = Wind Release: Spiraling Devine Wind  
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique  
Senpo: Cho Oodama Rasengan = Sage Art: Super Great Ball Spiralling Sphere  
Shinra Tensei = Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God  
Fūjutsu Kyūin = Blocking Technique Absorption Seal

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	15. Tales of Another Life

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter15: Tales of Another Life

**Jinchuuriki Seal**

"Minato also used my chakra to form the seal to help you control the Kyuubi's power someday," Kushina explained as the three sat down. "We wanted to aid you whenever we could...are you listening?"

"I'm just thinking how glad I am to see my mom's a babe," Naruto admitted.

"Well, thank you," Kushina smiled shyly. "Well Naruto, I'm sorry you ended up with my face, but at least you got your father's hair."

"Why? If my mom's a babe, and I look like her that makes me a hunk right? And you've got really pretty hair, I bet that I would've looked good on me too," Naruto mused as he envisioned it.

"Heh heh...you're the second man to ever compliment me on my hair," Kushina admitted.

"I am? Who's the other one?" Naruto blinked.

"Your father of course," Kushina replied.

"Ah ha, I get," Naruto said eagerly. "There's something I always wanted to ask; how the hell did you and dad fall in love?"

"Th-that's totally embarrassing, ttebane," Kushina stammered out nervously.

"You said 'ttebane' again; you're all worked up," Naruto accused.

"More like flustered, ttebane," Kushina explained quickly.

"Hahahaha you said 'ttebane' again," Naruto added laughing lightly.

"Well what about you and your little girlfriend here and those other two girls, huh? Don't think I haven't seen the outside of this seal," Kushina told him making the two blush. "Just make sure you use protection and don't have kids until your married. I mean it; you stupid noble son of mine."

"Mom please!" Naruto really didn't need to be having _this_ conversation with his mother. He still remembered the very vivid details that Jiraiya explained to him during their training trip. It was embarrassing enough as it was without her saying that, _especially _in front of Tiffa.

"M-Miss Kushina, we haven't-" Tiffa stammered.

"I know you haven't but you will sooner or later," Kushina smiled at the half-elf. "I think you I'd love to have you as a daughter."

"T-thank you Miss Kushina," Tiffa bowed her head respectively.

"Please just call me Kushina," the redhead said with an annoyed look. "I don't like to be formal all the time."

"R-right," Tiffa nodded.

"Where was I? Oh yes," Kushina turned her attention back to her son and continued. "I moved to Konoha when I was young...your father and I were just kids. The first time I saw him…Minato, I thought he looked like a flaky girly-boy."

"Whoa really?" Naruto blinked. He'd never heard his father described as _that_ before even by Jiraiya and especially not by anyone from Konoha.

"Since I was a kid, I wanted to make an impression on the first day of the academy lessons. So when they asked me what my dream was for the future was, I said 'I'm going to be the first female Hokage' and...yeah," Kushina shrugged.

"Nice one mom, you definitely take after me," Naruto laughed.

"Other way around son," Kushina told him. "So...they didn't like how the new kid was suddenly talking about becoming Hokage and the boys started making fun of me all the time—they called me tomato."

"I don't get it though, why did they call you that?" Naruto asked confused.

"I had a very round face and with my fiery hair...well, I looked like one. Even I had to admit it...and it infuriated me," Kushina explained.

"Ah, so dad was the one who stood up to the bullies, and you-" Naruto started.

"Nope," Kushina cut in. "I went after those boys who made fun of me, and in the end the 'tomato' squashed them. After seeing my wild red hair whipping around while I beat them half to death, I got a new nickname. The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," she smiled at the memory.

'_I think I finally understand why Kiba and Shikamaru were so scared of their moms now,'_ Naruto thought with a gulp at seeing the smile on her face. "...So what did dad say when they asked him his goal for the future?"

"Minato? He said 'I want everyone in the village to acknowledge me and become Hokage' though at the time I admit I didn't believe it," Kushina confessed.

"Get everyone to acknowledge him and become Hokage huh? Damn that sounds like mine..." Naruto shook his head at the irony involved.

"When I heard that, I thought there was no way that a goofy flake would ever be Hokage," Kushina continued.

"But dad totally looked super strong when I met him," Naruto defended.

"Yes...but what did I know? I was young, so I looked down my nose at Minato until the certain incident," Kushina explained.

"Incident?" Naruto questioned with narrowed eyes.

"I've always hated my red hair until one day, thanks to Minato; I came to like it," Kushina said sadly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked her.

"My chakra is a bit special, you see and Kumo wanted it badly enough to kidnap me," Kushina answered.

"Kumo tried to kidnap you?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Yes," Kushina nodded. "As they were marching me away; I pulled out one hair strand at a time to mark the path we were taking. I was very careful not to be seen," Kushina continued. "Konoha sent out pursuit squads immediately, but none of them managed to find me. As we grew closer to the border I started giving up hope..."

"Ah ha," Naruto laughed as he caught on.

"Yes, Minato was the only one who picked up my trail. He was the only one who noticed the trail of red strands...as he held me; he said he noticed my beautiful hair right away. Suddenly he looked like the most magnificent shinobi ever, like a man who would make all my dreams come true and most importantly, he changed me. My bright red hair had led me to my soul mate," Kushina concluded. "It became my own personal 'Red Thread of Destiny' from that day on, I liked my hair, and more importantly, I loved Minato."

"I see," Naruto grinned when he heard that.

"There's a special little something I like to tell the men who compliment my hair...yourself included Naruto," Kushina said with a smile. "I love you," he froze at the words.

"...Damn," Naruto shook himself. "There aren't too many who've said that to me."

"Well one of them is sitting right here," Kushina smiled at the half-elf sitting beside him. "So tell me, what is the product of Konoha's Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Hanabero?"

"The Orange Uzukage," Naruto declared with a laugh.

"And now I can follow after Minato," Kushina nodded with a smile. "But first there's one last thing I need to tell you, Naruto...I want you to know the truth behind the incident seventeen years ago, the night you were born."

"The truth?" Naruto asked.

"I was the previous Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko," Kushina declared.

"Mom..._you_ were the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Yes but before I tell you what happened I want you to know a little about who I am; I was chosen as the second Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The truth is I was brought to Konoha for the sole purpose of becoming a Jinchuuriki," Kushina began.

"Why?" Naruto questioned.

"The Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpool...Konoha's Senju Clan and Uzushio's Uzumaki Clan were distant blood relatives. The people of Uzushio were all blessed with astonishing long lives; to the point our village became known as the Choju no Sato. The Uzumaki specialised in Fūinjutsu though some were a little rough around the edges while others were extremely advanced such as your Jinchuuriki seal. In fact, I taught Minato...your father a whole bunch of different seals," Kushina explained. "The mark on the back of your jumpsuit is actually the Uzushio symbol which everyone in Konoha uses today as a symbol of friendship between them and the now destroyed Uzushio. My country is long gone...it was only a matter of time really. In that era of war people quickly came to fear the power of our Fūinjutsu. The survivors disappeared, scattering themselves across the globe so our enemies could never find us."

"So why did you have to-" Naruto started.

"Apparently I was born with a particularly strong chakra well suited for suppressing the Kyuubi," Kushina continued. "My predecessor as a Jinchuuriki was also a powerful kunoichi; I guess it was seen as appropriate. It's funny actually...her name was Uzumaki Mito, she became the Shodai Hokage's wife and I ended up marrying the Yondaime. Do you know about the battle between the Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded remembering that particular history lesson as the Shodai Hokage's greatest battle.

"During their battle, Hashirama-sama gained control of the Kyuubi and in order to better aid him Mito-sama sealed it inside her own body, becoming its first Jinchuuriki. From then on Konoha took possession of the Kyuubi and as Mito-sama neared the end of her life I was brought to the village to become its next Jinchuuriki," Kushina explained.

"So they used you?!" Naruto shouted in outrage.

"I had no idea why I had to move, when I learned the truth I was speechless," Kushina confessed. "It had all been kept secret...only the Sandaime Hokage and the village elders knew...only three people. I felt like I was suffocating under the pressure of being a Jinchuuriki and the loneliness that came with it. But then Mito-sama said this to me 'ultimately we were brought here to become the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi...before the beast can be housed we must fill the Jinchuuriki with love.' Do that and even a Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko can be happy."

"Mom...you were a Jinchuuriki and you were still happy?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"...Yes," Kushina nodded with a smile.

"...The fox attacked seventeen years ago and it was because some masked man had control over it. So how could you have been holding it at the same time?" Naruto asked confused.

"I guess your dad didn't get to tell you...it figures he left most of it to me...Minato must have had very little time," Kushina caught on. "Well your right, the masked man did have control of the Kyuubi seventeen years ago but moments before its attack it was still sealed inside me."

"But how?" Naruto asked.

"Minato believed it was Uchiha Madara...I don't know how but Madara knew about me," Kushina started.

"Knew what?" Naruto asked.

"He knew the one moment when a Jinchuuriki's seal is at its weakest...he waited for that moment and when it came he stole the fox from me," Kushina continued.

"There's a second when the seal weakens that badly? When is that?" Naruto questioned.

"Child birth," Kushina answered. "A full term pregnancy for a female Jinchuuriki is about ten months...as the chakra to maintain the seal starts going to nurture the child the seal weakens directly propionate to it."

"So this Madara…" Naruto trailed off.

"We used the same precautions that were used for Mito-sama to deliver you and no one knew I was about to give birth. The only ones besides Minato and my best friend Uchiha Mikoto who knew were Sandaime-sama, his wife and the elders of the Konoha. The moment you were born Madara appeared and killed the Sandaime's wife, Sarutobi Biwako. He then captured you and threatened to kill you if Minato didn't step away from me. Minato saved you but Madara captured me and by the time Minato came to my rescue it was already too late. Madara had ripped the Kyuubi out of my seal and were it not for my Uzumaki vitality I would have died right there. I was saved by Minato just as Madara took control of the Kyuubi and ordered it to kill me," Kushina explained.

"So that's the beginning of the nightmare," Naruto said as his fists clenched at his side.

"After Minato dropped me off with you he went off to face Madara and the Kyuubi which Madara had summoned to Konoha. Minato negated his control of the Kyuubi with a contract seal and forced Madara to flee. When he returned to the battlefield to face the Kyuubi he transported it to where we were so it wouldn't harm the village anymore. I held it down long enough for him to seal half of its chakra in you and the other half with Minato's own body," Kushina said sadly. "We made you into the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki and left you with such a heavy burden. I wasn't there to raise you…I wasn't there to love you."

"Don't apologize," Naruto told her. "I had a lot of hard times growing up as a Jinchuuriki but I never blamed you or dad for it. Maybe I never understood what a parent's love is really like but I never had a mom or dad to begin with so I managed. But now I get it, I live because my mom and dad gave their lives for me. You filled me with love before you put the Kyuubi in me so here I am, happy and healthy. I'm glad I end up being your, son so don't ever think you weren't a good mother."

"Naruto…for letting me be your mother and letting Minato be your father. Thank you for being our son," Kushina hugged him tearfully as she dissolved and disappeared. "Take care of him," she whispered to the half-elf before she was gone completely.

"I will," Tiffa whispered back.

'_Mom…I promise I'll eat more than ramen from now on…I'll work on the vegetables. I love hopping in a hot bath so no worries…and I get plenty of sleep, probably too much. As for friends I've got plenty and they're all wonderful people. I just wish you could've met them,'_ Naruto thought as he watched her disappear. _'As for school…it wasn't always smooth sailing with the teachers, students and the academy in general but things are better now. Jiraiya-sensei was a good teacher and he was just like how you remembered him. But still…he taught me how to live as a true shinobi should…I am Uzumaki Naruto, last member of the Uzumaki Clan, and the man who will surpass all the previous Kages by defeating Uchiha Madara once and for all."_ He let out a loud cheer, "to become a bigger badass than my father and a stronger shinobi than my mother!"

**Author's Notes:**

I rewrote this thing three times before finally settling on a mostly canon reunion between Naruto and Kushina with Tiffa in there. To be honest I'm disappointed in it but if I try and write it out again I feel like I'd go insane. This chapter really didn't want to be written...

_**Translation**_

Uzukage = Whirlpool Shadow  
Choju no SatoVillage of Longevity**  
**Uzushio = Whirling Tides  
Habanero = Tomato

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	16. Calm before the Storm

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero or anything else.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter16: Calm before the Storm

**Japan: Tokyo Cemetery**

Saito Chevalier de Hiraga, originally known simply as Hiraga Saito was orphaned at the age of fifteen when his parents were killed in a car crash two and a half years ago. He had moved on but there was one thing he needed to do before he went back home...it was funny that he considered the academy home now instead of here on his homeworld.

Saito stood in front of a pair of gravestones atop a hillside with a tree behind them near the back of the cemetery. Louise and Siesta stood at his side carrying a set of flowers each. At the base of the hill stood Henrietta looking on sadly with an uncomfortable looking Agnes at her side standing guard. Saito remained silent as Louise and Siesta laid the flowers across the graves and the returned to his side.

Engraved on the headstones were the names Hiraga Hina and Hiraga Daisuke written in Japanese. Minutes passed and both Louise and Siesta withdrew slowly casting worried and saddened looks back at the young man they loved. Another few minutes passed before Saito finally turned away and followed after his wife and maid.

"...Goodbye," Saito whispered over his shoulder and kept walking.

It was time to begin...

**Japan: Tokyo**

They spent another week in Japan before finally returning to the alley where the dimensional rupture was formed and were ready to finally return home to the academy. Saito had been unusually silent since the visit to his parents' graves and the others were worried about him. On a happier note everyone was looking forward to going back home though that was admittedly overshadowed by the fact that they would most likely be going to war again soon after they got back.

Naruto stood and held out his hands at his side much like he did the first time. Knowing what was coming everyone backed away as Naruto formed a glowing black void in his left hand and a glowing white light in his right hand. He slammed them together and an echoing boom was heard as the two mixed with enough noise to catch the attention of a few people walking by the alley.

"**Izanagi!"** Naruto exclaimed and as the vortex appeared and the contracted into a small glowing tear seemingly flouting in the air. This one was bigger than the last and he was easily able to slide one of his three-pronged kunai through the rupture. "We're good to go," he said turning to the others.

"Let's go home," Henrietta nodded and everyone grabbed a hold of the blond Jinchuuriki.

"**Hiraishin no Jutsu,"** they were gone a moment later and the rupture closed leaving no trace that anything or anyone had ever been there.

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

It was around midnight when Saito stood on the balcony overlooking the dimly lit courtyard below with nothing but the twin moons in the sky for company. As soon as they returned earlier that day Queen Henrietta and her bodyguard, Agnes set off for the castle. Everyone else had settled back in though now that he was alone with his thoughts he couldn't help but sigh as he let go of his last attachment to his homeworld.

He belonged here now on this world with two moons, in this academy with his wife sleeping inside their shared bedroom behind him. His mistress was also sleeping peacefully in that same bed though on opposite sides leaving a valley where he was supposed to be. Despite the dangers and the new war that was brewing he couldn't help but remember simpler times.

Hiraga Saito was a naive child constantly holding out hope that life would get better for him, but that was another life and here stood Saito Chevalier de Hiraga. It was here that his thoughts drifted to the reigning queen of this beautiful country and the 'request' Louise had spoken of. She didn't particularly like the idea of sharing him anymore than she already was and had refused to 'loan' him out to Queen Henrietta to sire an heir to the throne.

Truthfully he wasn't sure what to think about that; he had to admit he was attracted to the woman, I mean who wouldn't? Henrietta was the Queen and stunningly beautiful not to mention the moment they shared back at the costume ball. But between Louise, Siesta and the stress of war hanging over his head, he was rapidly reaching his breaking point.

"Can't sleep?" a voice asked making him jump and turn in surprise. "No need to be so jumpy," it was Naruto sitting on the steel banister.

"How do you do that?" Saito asked.

"Ninja remember," Naruto shrugged. "And you didn't answer my question."

"...I got a lot on my mind right now," Saito replied. "Her Highness wants an heir to the throne and even asked Louise if she can 'loan' me to her for a night."

"Really? I bet that didn't go down well," Naruto commented.

"No it didn't," Saito leaned against the banister and crossed his arms. "Louise rejected the request and Siesta didn't seem too thrilled about it either. To be honest I'm not sure what to think about it but I do understand where she's coming from."

"Oh?" Naruto asked urging him to continue.

"Besides you, me and Guichi she doesn't really know that many guys our age and she keeps rejecting the suitors that come to her because she doesn't know them well enough to even think about putting them in a position for seizing the throne. That only leaves us three and can you imagine one of us on the throne? Guichi would probably make a day dedicated to himself and I'd probably end up hitting a few of the nobles. You're a better choice to be king," Saito explained.

"I think you're selling yourself short," Naruto grinned. "This world doesn't need me and my ideals. What it needs is your equality and way of thinking. We spent two weeks on your homeworld and even though it had its problems there wasn't such a large chain of hatred like back on my world or even here."

"So you think I should do it? Just take Her Highness...Henrietta as my wife and have a child with her? For the sake of the nation?" Saito questioned.

"Let me tell you something I haven't told anyone here, not even Tiffa," Naruto responded. "Back on my homeworld there was a priestess with the ability to see possible futures; I met her two years ago and she predicted my death fighting a demon called Moryo. I was her bodyguard and over the course of my mission she started liking me. We defeated Moryo and I survived thanks to her; she altered my fate. After the battle was over she asked me to give her an heir because the ability to predict the future runs in her family. We spent one night together and after I left I never saw her again. Considering how long I've been here she's probably died of old age by now and our child is a grown up."

"...How can you live with yourself after something like that?" Saito asked. "Not being able to see your child grow up and being forced apart from someone you gave everything too sounds like too much of a burden for anyone to bear."

"I've often wondered what my life would have been like if I stayed instead of returning to Konoha to continue my duties," Naruto admitted. "To be honest with you I'm glad I did leave because if I didn't then they would have died when a man named Uchiha Madara sent his people after me."

"...Does it ever get easier?" Saito asked one final question.

"No," Naruto answered honestly. "It's not supposed to."

"How long until my armour is ready?" Saito inquired changing the subject.

"Colbert-sensei says it'll be completed in a month," Naruto replied. "I still can't believe what you suggested we do with it."

"I can't believe we had something like that lying around in the vault," Saito responded. "As long as your containment seals hold then it should have more than enough power to fight in."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Naruto asked hesitantly. "I mean Louise is known for blowing things up, not helping to build war machines. What did you call that stuff exactly?"

"Void Magic," Saito answered.

"And my seals?" Naruto questioned.

"Will hold the magic she creates in place so it doesn't explode and then we can use it as a power source," Saito replied.

"And if the seals fail?" Naruto questioned further.

"Then it'll kill me," Saito concluded.

"That doesn't sound like a good idea," Naruto admitted.

"You weren't here for the last war," Saito said softly. "There was one of me and seventy thousand of them. I had two choices; either let Louise die fighting a hopeless battle or take her place. In the end I knocked her out and fought the battle instead of her. My fate was to fight an army of thousands...and lose."

"I heard," Naruto nodded.

"Back in Gallia I couldn't do a thing to help Tabitha...I mean Princess Charlotte," Saito quickly corrected himself. "I'd never felt so useless and I kept on thinking I could have done more if I was stronger. I can't stand the thought of doing nothing while others risk their lives to protect me and everyone else. There's others laying down their lives to protect this country and its people...I've got no right to do any less than that."

"Says the guy who's died once already," Naruto countered. "I'll see you tomorrow," he turned and jumped over the balcony to the courtyard below.

"See you tomorrow," Saito sighed and turned back to the bedroom window.

Both Louise and Siesta stood in the doorway looking concerned and he shot them a reassuring smile. They must have heard them talking but he didn't care; he loved them both and would do anything for them. He wasn't sure what the future would bring but one thing he did know was that as long as they were with him he would protect them with all of his strength.

* * *

An hour later Naruto returned to the room he shared with Tiffa and was greeted to the sight of a very naked blond half-elf laying in the double bed. He sat down on the side of the bed and Tiffa gave a loud groan as he eyes fluttered open.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Naruto asked.

"It's okay," Tiffa dismissed his concern and sat up, using the bed sheets to cover herself. "Is everything alright? Did something happen?"

"Saito and I were just talking," Naruto replied with a sigh. "Before you summoned me I was a dead-last shinobi deluding myself thinking that I could save everyone...I was wrong."

"...No you weren't," Tiffa responded quietly. "You never give up and that's what I like about you. You genuinely care about others, even people who don't deserve it and that's what attracts people too you. You don't care if they're a noble or a commoner; you help them and protect them because it's the right thing to do, not because someone told you to."

"If I can't save one life then I can't save any," Naruto said softly. "The war is coming and I am going to shoulder the hatred...that is my role."

"You don't have to do everything alone," Tiffa told him. "We're all here to help...all you need to do is ask. Don't lose sight of who you are or you will become the thing you hate the most."

"...Thank you Tiffa," Naruto smiled and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

**Tristain Royal Palace**

"So they've finally made their move, huh?" Henrietta commented as she looked over the map of the continent.

"Yes Your Majesty, it would seem they've finally begun to move," spoke General Agnes. "Small squads of five men have been reported launching raids across the border villages; several were killed however and we identified the bodies belonging to the Gallian special forces units."

"And the main army?" Henrietta inquired.

"Is holding position at the southern border," Agnes informed. "It's almost like they are waiting for something."

"What kind of numbers are in the Gallian army?" Henrietta questioned.

"Over one hundred thousand," Agnes answered grimly. "We only have twenty thousand men milady; should they launch a direct attack we wouldn't' be able to hold them off for long. We are still recovering from the war with Albion two years ago...we lost a lot of our best soldiers back then."

"...Dispatch a message to the Magic Academy...have the Ondine Knights ready for battle," Henrietta gave the order.

"As you wish Your Majesty," Agnes nodded and turned to carry out the order only to stop as the Queen spoke one final time.

"Also gather the army at the southern gates," Henrietta ordered. "I will personally take command of our forces."

**Tristain Academy of Magic**

"So you're going?" Beatrice asked the blond Rikudō-Sennin as he swung his new trench coat around and put it on.

"Of course I am," Naruto replied as he slapped two three-pronged kunai into his wrist-mounted slots.

"Why does it have to be you? Why can't someone else go?" Beatrice asked softly.

"...Don't tell me you're worried about little old me?" Naruto grinned as he turned towards her.

"Oh please, who would care about an idiot like you?" Beatrice huffed and turned away.

"Thanks for caring...Princess Beatrice," Naruto said with a smile, for the first time using her rightful title.

'_Naruto...'_ Beatrice thought as he passed her and walked out of the door with a large scroll strapped to his back. "You stupid fool..." she whispered as tears started to flow down her face.

Naruto walked through the empty and silent halls of the academy and came to the main entrance where he saw Charlotte waiting for him holding her stomach. "Is there something I can do for you Tabitha?" he asked her.

"...You're going out to fight again, aren't you?" Charlotte asked knowingly.

"Yes," Naruto nodded.

"I won't try and stop you," Charlotte told him. "But there is something you should know before you leave."

"And what's that?" Naruto asked.

"I..." Charlotte trailed off suddenly afraid.

"Tabitha," Naruto said with a smile.

"I'm...pregnant...Naruto..." Charlotte whispered and gasped as he pulled her into his arms. "You're not mad?"

"I'm happy," Naruto pulled back slightly and smiled at her. "I have something to come back to," he quickly pulled her lips to his in a soft and tearful kiss.

"I love you," she whispered as they pulled away.

"...I love you too," Naruto said quietly. "I promise once I'm back we'll sort something out, okay?"

"...Okay," Charlotte nodded and stepped to the side. "Be safe," she whispered as he walked passed her and out into the courtyard outside. "Come back alive."

"So he's finally on his way," Tiffa spoke from behind her.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Charlotte asked the half-elf.

"No, he already has enough on his mind," Tiffa smiled sadly.

* * *

"Is the suit ready?" Saito asked his teacher and mentor as the group entered the hangar.

"It's ready," Colbert nodded and led Saito, Louise and Siesta to the back of the room where a display case was. Inside the display case was a set of blue and white armour mirroring the colours of Saito's clothing and looked to be capable of covering the whole body from head to toe. "While Louise has already generously donated a tremendous amount of void magic; Mister Uzumaki's runes have contained and channeled the explosive energy of Louise's spell into the suit."

"This wouldn't be possible without everyone working together," Saito said with a smile as he opened the case. "All three worlds...their culture and their knowledge all rolled into one beacon of hope in these dark times."

"It's an ingenious idea," Colbert commented. "The technology of your world is so far ahead of ours...it makes me a little jealous that I could not stay there for awhile."

"Trust me when I say my homeworld is a boring place," Saito responded. "And it's got its own problems too."

"Siesta, help me with this," Colbert said as he slowly floated the armour of the case and one piece at a time.

Siesta slowly and carefully dressed him in the surprisingly light weight magic armour starting with the boots and going up from there.

"I'm going with you this time," Louise said clearly.

"No you're not," Saito responded simply.

"I'm not being left behind again," Louise shot back. "I'm going to fight at your side against the enemy and this time there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Louise..." Saito trailed off.

"I'm going," Louise said finally.

"Did I come at a bad time?" a familiar woman's voice asked from behind them. It was Queen Henrietta, the ruler of Tristain and now commander of the Tristain army.

"Your Majesty," Louise, Siesta and Colbert bowed thought Saito remained standing.

"Please don't do that," Henrietta spoke to them. "I just came to wish you all luck."

"Thank you Your Majesty but we won't need it," Saito responded. "We'll win this war and stop their King's plans once and for all."

"...Then I suppose there's only one thing left to say," Henrietta smiled sadly. "Come back alive," Saito's helmet slapped down on his head and the armour started to lock itself together.

The eyes glowed blue...

**Author's Notes:**

Saito is Ironman! Naruto heads to war!

The Gallian army is on the march and all that stands between Tristain and complete annihilation are our unyielding heroes. Concerning Saito's parents; I would like to point out that I had this planned out before Season Four was released and revealed that his parents were still alive. Until that point they weren't mentioned and they still haven't been seen so I just assumed that Saito was an orphan. It would explain why despite wanting to return to Earth, he never mentioned family or friends that he had or people that would miss him.

Tabitha/Charlotte has revealed her pregnancy to Naruto and given him something to come back to. To be honest I think I mess up that scene but no matter what I did or how many times I rewrote it this was the best I could do. On another note Saito is thinking hard about Henrietta's 'request' for him to sire an heir to the throne and his feelings on the matter are overshadowed by the approaching war.

As for the Ironman-styled armour; I felt that between the Fūinjutsu/magic/technology of the three worlds they should be able to manufacture something that would give Saito far greater power than what he currently possesses. After all if Naruto has a new power-up after defeating Kurama then Saito should get at least this much after everything he's been through (hell he died at the Season Two for crying out loud).

_**Translation**_

Hiraishin no Jutsu = Flying Thunder God Technique

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	17. The Art of War

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero or anything else.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter17: The Art of War

**Tristain-Gallia Border**

"_Above!" _Delf shouted as fireballs descended from the sky.

Saito Chevalier de Hiraga jumped to the side as the fireballs exploded rained down and exploded against the ground where he stood just moments ago. "Those are Dragon Knights!" he yelled as he lunged forward and cut through another enemy foot soldier.

"I'm on it!" Louise yelled back and pointed her wand up at the circling dragons. **"Ardescrat!" **the pinkette exclaimed and the sky lit up in a golden light before the dying down to reveal clear skies, not even clouds had survived.

"**Secare!" **Saito exclaimed as he swung Delf in one long motion, sending a very sharp blade of pure wind out from the blade and wiping out the forward line of Gallian soldiers that challenged him. Between his training on using his chakra thanks to training with Naruto and working on his surprising affinity for wind he had augmented his swordsmanship skills with his newfound abilities so in the unlikely event he lost his familiars powers he would have something to fall back on.

"Where's Naruto?!" Guichi shouted as two of his swordsman-golems formed at his side and charged at the dozens of attacking Gallian soldiers.

"**Shuradō!"** Naruto called out as he up high above them onto the cliff wall. His left arm was raised and seemed to dozens of small missiles shot out and down towards the Gallian soldiers, bombarding the enemy lines.

"Does that answer your question?" Louise shot back as she took cover in one of the newly formed craters.

"Incoming!" Gimli called out as he stared off at the horizon.

"Take cover!" Guichi shouted as he dove for cover and another wave of fireballs descended on their position, this time from the rear of the enemy lines. Explosions riddled the battlefield as Saito and Louise slumped down against the wall of one of the newly formed craters.

"There's just no end to them," Saito panted finally out of breath. "They just keep coming."

"They're trying to wear us down," Louise breathed as she clutched her wand to her chest.

"Thankfully there only seems to be about fifty of them left," Malicorne spoke up.

"We've got company," Gimli spoke up as he peeked out from cover at the enemy lines. "Is that what I think it is?" at the back of the enemy lines and walking towards them was large and very familiar golem.

"The Jormungandr? I thought you destroyed that thing?" Guichi asked as he looked over at the Rikudō-Sennin.

"I did," Naruto confirmed.

"This must be another one," Malicorne mused. "Of course they just have to have _more _of those monsters."

"That's going to be a pain to take out," Naruto commented.

"I'll deal with it," Louise said as she rose to her feet once again.

"What about those mages they have in the back that keeps firing on us?" Saito asked.

"I'll deal with them," Naruto responded as he pulled out a three-pronged kunai and threw it at the enemy lines. A quick set of hand-seals later and the single kunai suddenly became forty. **"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **a few seconds later the kunai had rained down on the enemy lines though most had dodged the assault. **"Hiraishin no Jutsu!" **he disappeared and then reappeared at the kunai he had thrown right in front of the dozens of Gallians soldiers.

"**Ardescrat!" **Louise exclaimed as a golden light shot from her wand and struck the Jormungandr in the chest. It exploded into pieces as a blinding light washed over the battlefield soon followed by an echoing boom.

"Nice one Zero," Guichi nodded in approval. It appeared that she had finally found a use for her explosions even though she seemingly couldn't use any other spells that end in anything but an explosion.

"Is that the last of them?" Saito asked as he peeked out from cover.

"Yeah," Naruto confirmed as he released his sage mode. "Four of them got away and are retreating towards the border."

"Let them go," Guichi sighed.

"That's the fifth ambush squad in two days," Malicorne breathed. "What now?"

"We need an audience with Her Highness," Guichi replied as he stared down at the destroyed Jormungandr. "She must be informed about these monstrosities immediately."

**Tristain / Castle Terra**

Castle Terra was a military outpost twenty miles from the Gallian border where most of the Tristainian army had gathered in preparation for the coming battle against the Gallian army. The castle was heavily defended with nothing but open fields surrounding it and was said to be almost impenetrable to any form of attack.

Or at least it was supposed to be...

"How long until they arrive?" Henrietta asked the questioned as she stared down at the map of Halkeginia.

"They will be here at noon tomorrow," Agnes answered. "Intelligence reports that they have over three dozen war golems with them like the two that the Ondine Knights destroyed."

"I want everyone pulled back to Terra," Henrietta said as an order. "We'll make our stand here."

"It shall be done Your Highness," Agnes bowed respectively and left the room.

"You seem troubled," Louise commented from the side.

"If we lose Castle Terra then the palace will be the next to fall," Henrietta responded. "King Joseph wants the power of the Void Mages and he'll gladly sacrifice a hundred thousand lives just to get it."

"He won't get his hands on the Power of the Void," Louise declared. "I won't let him."

* * *

Standing at the walls of the castle were the Ondine Knights staring at the field beyond covered in thousands of Gallian soldiers along with dozens of huge catapults and a number of airships hovering over them.

"Are you ready for this?" Louise asked the gathered knights.

"We were born ready," Guichi responded. "We are nobles, after all."

"Get ready because here they come," Naruto spoke up as the enemy started their advance.

Catapults from the back of the Gallian lines hurled massive chunks of rock through the air, over the castle walls and into the center of the fortress. This was soon followed by hundreds of fireballs as squadrons of dragon riders descended on the castle.

"Incoming!" Gimli yelled as a large chunk of rock blew through the side of the castle wall beside where he was standing.

"We have to do something about those catapults!" Saito shouted as several more rocks tore through the castle's stone wall.

"What about those soldiers?!" Guichi yelled back as a couple hundred Gallian soldiers pour into the castle through the hole in the wall.

"I'll deal with them," Saito said and jumped down off of the wall and directly in front of the breach.

"**Shuradō!"** Naruto exclaimed as he unleashed a swarm of missiles at the sea of enemies attack the castle. "Alright, let's even the odds," he whispered and jumped over the wall and _flew _up until he was right next to one of the Gallian sail airships above the center of the Gallian lines.

"What is he doing?" Louise asked in confusion.

"Now they will know true pain...**Shinra Tensei!" **Naruto held out his hands and unleashed one massive blast of pure gravity in all directions.

Three Gallian airships caught in the blast were ripped apart and the twenty thousand men below could only scream as they were blown away, killing countless soldiers and mages in a matter of seconds. When it was over all that was left of the twenty thousand men at the front of the Gallian army was nothing but a ten mile wide crater and an exhausted Naruto.

"W-what inhuman power," Malicorne stammered at the sight.

"It's not over yet," Guichi said grimly as he stared out at the fresh wave of twenty thousand Gallian solders and mages advancing on them.

"I've got this one," Louise spoke up and pointed her wand as his eyes lit up. **"Materia displosiva!" **the light shot out of the tip of the wand and struck the center of the Gallian lines.

Light suddenly shone across the battlefield that was soon followed by an echoing boom and the deaths of twenty thousand Gallian soldiers as they were sent screaming into the void beyond. When the light died down there wasn't much left but another crater and a quickly fading cloud of smoke hundreds of miles wide.

'_She did that with one spell!'_ Guichi thought with wide eyes. _'And to think everyone called her a failure.'_

"Dragons!" Gimli yelled as a dozen Gallian dragon knights descended on them.

"**Ardescrat!"** Louise exclaimed as she flung her wand up and released a wave of destruction into the sky, wiping out the attacking dragon knights in one move.

"That should buy us a minute or two," Malicorne sighed.

"I wouldn't count on it," Gimli countered as he gazed out at the Gallian army. "It looks like they're regrouping for another assault."

"I'm going to go and help Naruto," Saito spoke up as his armour formed over his body. His rocket-boots activated and he shot off into the air before heading out into the crater where Naruto was last seen.

"Be careful..." Louise whispered as she watched him go.

* * *

The crater wasn't that deep compared to the one Nagato made when he destroyed Konoha but Naruto was satisfied with the results of his training. Sadly he had used up pretty much half of his chakra on that one jutsu and was feeling the strain from using the Rinnegan in such a way. Then again he hadn't used Sage Mode or 'God Mode' AKA Kyuubi's chakra so he was far from out of the fight just yet.

"Sixty thousand Gallian bastards against _one _of me...sounds fair," Naruto grinned as the Gallian army surrounded him on all sides.

"Make that _two _of us," Saito said as he dropped down at his side clad in full chakra-armour.

"Now that's just not fair for any of them," Naruto said with a grin.

"You're insane," Saito said over his shoulder. "It's like you're enjoying this."

"I don't enjoy war," Naruto replied as they stood back-to-back. "But I _do _enjoy a good fight," he said as his pupils elongated into horizontal slits and turned yellow in colour with orange rings around his eyes.** "Senjutsu: Sennin Modo," **he then made a familiar hand-seal. **"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **instantly a thousand shadow clones appeared at his side.

"_Let's go to work partner!"_ Delf shouted.

"**Secare!" **Saito exclaimed and swung the sentient-sword in a horizontal slice, sending a large blast of wind out that cut through all that it touched.

"**Senpo: Cho Oodama Rasen Tarengan!" **Naruto exclaimed as he and his clones jumped all around at the Gallian soldiers with large spinning chakra balls twice as large as their own bodies in their hands. The chakra spheres exploded upon contact and released a torrent of violent energy across the battlefield. "Yo Saito! Airships at ten o'clock!" the real Naruto shouted as he pointed up at three approaching Gallian airships.

"I've got them," Saito nodded as beams of energy lashed out from his gloves and tore through several attacking Gallian soldiers. **"Oblivio!" **he slashed down with Delf and released one massive blast of energy, cutting the airships in half with one swing. "Here comes the Jormungandr!" he yelled when he saw several dozen of the massive metal golems advancing on them.

"Is there no end to this?" Naruto quickly bit his thumb and formed a series of hand-seals. **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" **he exclaimed as he slammed his hand down on the ground and suddenly Gamakichi appeared in an explosion of smoke.

"**Yo bro! Long time no see," **Gamakichi greeted with a smile. **"Why did you summon me? Can't you handle these weaklings by yourself?"**

"Not while defending that castle behind us," Naruto answered and gestured to Castle Terra over his shoulder.

"**Well then,"** Gamakichi grinned. **"Let's go!"** he took a deep breath and then spewed out a large blast of oil

"**Katon: Endan!" **Naruto exclaimed as be breathed out fire onto the stream of oil, igniting it.

"_**Katon: Gamayu Endan!" **_Gamakichi called out as the oil washed over three of the Jormungandr. Unlike the one they had defeated in Gallia, these ones weren't protected by elfin magic barriers and thus were incinerated by the inferno unleashed by the Sage and the Toad Boss.

"They're backing off," Saito commented as the other Jormungandr withdrew behind the Gallian lines and the Gallian soldiers in front surrounded them again.

"Thanks for the help Gamakichi," Naruto said as he jumped down from the Toad Boss' head and landed beside the blue-clad swordsman.

"**Anytime bro," **Gamakichi nodded and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"So what now?" Saito asked over his shoulder as the two stood back-to-back once again.

"Familiars of the Void!" a deafening voice echoed across the battlefield. "You have fought valiantly," spoke King Joseph Gaul atop the shoulder of a Jormungandr. "But you are outnumbered and eventually you will tire. Surrender now and I will spare your lives. Resist and I will rip the Powers of the Void from your masters' cold dead bodies."

"...We'll take the third option," Saito began.

"We kill you and save this whole damn world!" Naruto finished.

"...So be it," Joseph sneered. "Kill them," he ordered.

"Yes milord," Sheffield bowed her head in respect and launched herself forward atop a stone stingray.

"It's time to get serious," Naruto clenched his hands at his side as he unleashed the Kyuubi's chakra and took the form of the Rikudō-Sennin.

"I'll take Sheffield!" Saito shouted out as the two shot forward right towards the center of the Gallian lines.

"Then that bastard is mine!" Naruto yelled as the two dove into the center of the Gallian lines, tearing through anything that got in their way.

Mages hurled fireballs and wind blasts at the two human familiars but they simply batted the spells out of the way and continued their attack. Spears, swords and even fireballs simply bounced off of Saito's chakra-armour while Naruto dodged each and every attack with inhuman speed.

'_What are they?'_ Joseph glared as the two cut through everything and everyone sent against them. **"****Globulus Igneus!" **he raised his wand with his left hand and a huge fireball formed at its tip that shot out towards the two human familiars.

"I got this," Naruto grinned and formed two chakra arms from his right shoulder. They spun round his right hand and moments later a familiar bell-like screech filled the air. **"Futon: Rasenshuriken!" **he exclaimed as he hurled the spinning chakra shuriken at the Jormungandr.

"Monster..." Joseph sneered as he jumped back off of the Jormungandr's shoulder and landed behind it as the chakra shuriken struck it in the midsection and consumed it in a ball of wind before erasing it from existence with a mighty explosion. "Someone needs to teach you your place boy," he said just as a single three-pronged kunai landed beside him.

"**Hiraishin no Jutsu!" **Naruto appeared beside him in an instant, the yellow flames-like chakra on his body giving him the image of a yellow flash as he charged his signature jutsu in his right hand. **"Rasengan!" **he exclaimed as he thrust the spiraling sphere towards the Gallian King.

"**Consulo!" **Joseph whispered as the rings on his fingers glowed green.

The chakra ball slammed into an elfin magic barrier that formed around the Gallian King and strained against the onslaught of this Yellow Flash. The sound of glass shattering filled the air as both the spiraling sphere and the elfin barrier repulsed each other and knocked both combatants several feet away.

'_This is the Rasengan's limit?'_ Naruto thought as he glared at the blue-haired king in front of him. _'It should have broken through like it almost did against that elf guy back in Gallia...don't tell me they've improved their barriers spells since then. But even so, this guy isn't an elf so how is he even able to use that spell?'_

"Surprised? You shouldn't be," Joseph sneered. "We've had months to study your foreign magic and work to find viable countermeasures. The elves certainly know how to create good enough shield charms, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm a lot stronger than I was when I fought Bidalshaif back in Gallia," Naruto said back as two chakra arms formed out of his back. "Let's see how strong that barrier of yours really is!" he brought his hands up while his chakra arms spun around a single spot. Red and blue chakra spheres stared to peel off from him and gather into a black sphere in the center of his hands.

"What are you doing?" Joseph demanded. "What is that spell?"

'_According to the Forbidden Scroll, this jutsu was called the __**Bijudama**__ and needed a negative and positive ratio of 8:2 to form right. I just have to compress it,'_ Naruto thought as he strained to formed the black sphere. _'I can't throw it yet but if I can just hit him with it then this will all be over.'_

'_He still had something else? Is this new spell an improved version of the other?'_ Joseph mused as he formed a large fireball at the end of his wand and pointed it at the Uzumaki. _'No matter, it seems to be rather heavy for him to carry so I'll just stop him from getting close enough to use it.'_

"I won't lose here!" Naruto roared as he ran forward with the destructive orb in his hands.

"**Globulus Igneus!" **Joseph bellowed as he hurled the large fireball right at the sage. "Just give up!"

"Give up trying to make me give up!" Naruto shouted back as two more chakra arms extended from his body and shielded him from the flames. "I'll end it with this!" he yelled as he broke through the fire and launched himself right at the Gallian King.

'_No!'_ Joseph thought with wide eyes.

"**Imari!" **Naruto exclaimed as he slammed the black chakra sphere into Joseph's chest. The humanized tailed beast ball exploded forward in a large blast of light that stretched across the battlefield like an unyielding storm. Joseph barely had time to think before his body was completely destroyed and the wiped from the face of existence along with a good thousand of his soldiers.

"No!" Sheffield screamed in horror as the blast died down. "You'll pay for this!" she yelled as her stingray flew down towards the exhausted Naruto.

'_Damn it,'_ Naruto winced. _'It looks like that jutsu drained what was left of the Kyuubi's chakra.'_

"Die!" Sheffield shouted with eyes filled with hate.

'_I killed your master,'_ Naruto thought as he looked up at the attacking woman. _'Revenge is what you want but it's never that simple.'_

"**Vacuus Fulgeo!"**Saito exclaimed as the void containment core on his chest plate glowed before a beam of white light exploded out from it. The beam washed over Sheffield and the stingray she was riding almost instantly.

"M-master...I...I'm...sorry..." Sheffield whispered as her body broke apart into dust.

"It's over," Saito sighed as he dropped down beside Naruto. "It's over!" he yelled at the top of his lungs causing everyone across the battlefield to stop and look towards him. "King Joseph is dead!" silence greeted his claim. "All Gallian forces are to surrender now! This war is over!"

Silence...

And then a single weapon fell clattering to the ground...

Followed by many more...

**Author's Notes:**

The war is over; both Joseph and Sheffield are dead and Gallia surrenders. When I started this story it was great and I had set out a timeline for it. Originally I would have had Madara (Obito) appear since at the time I thought he really was the immortal Uchiha Madara but with the recent revelations in the manga I just can't bring him into this without feeling like I'm dragging it on. So I'm sorry if you were expecting more but the next chapter will be the epilogue and conclusion of this story.

In other news I'm back and will be continuing my stories on this site however I should inform you all that I have a job now so my updates will be random. I'll try to stick to my usual schedule but between work, playing FF13-2 and Kingdom Hearts 3D, I've barely had any time to work on stories lately. Though, I have been working on another story that I plan to publish soon; maybe on Friday or sometime next week. By the way, Final Fantasy 13-2 is awesome; seriously it is one of the most addictive games I've ever played.

_**Translation**_

Ardescrat = Burn  
Ignis = Flame  
Globulus Igneus = Fireball  
Materia displosiva = Explosion  
Secare = Cut  
Oblivio = Oblivion  
Vacuus Fulgeo = Void Beam  
Hiraishin no Jutsu = Flying Thunder God Technique  
Shuradō = Shuradō  
Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Multiple Shadow Clone Technique  
Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Kunai Shadow Clone Technique  
Senjutsu: Sennin Modo = Sage Technique: Sage Mode  
Senpo: Cho Oodama Rasen Tarengan = Sage Art: Super Great Ball Spiralling Group Sphere  
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Multiple Summoning Technique  
Katon: Endan = Fire Release: Flame Bullet  
Katon: Gamayu Endan = Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet  
Futon: Rasenshuriken = Wind Release: Spiralling Shuriken  
Bijudama = Tailed Beast Ball  
Imari = Menacing Ball

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


	18. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero or anything else.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter18: Epilogue

**Tristain: Des Ornieres**

With the end of the battle and the death of King Joseph, the war ended in Tristain's victory. Following this, a pregnant Princess Charlotte quickly ascended the Gallian throne and became the new queen. As her first act she married Naruto for both love and to solidify her position as the leader of her nation. After everything calmed down the now King Naruto de Uzumaki des Gallia began construction of Uzushiogakure no Sato on the border of Tristain as a joint project between the two countries.

Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf, having graduated the academy quickly took her father's place as the ruler of Grand Duchy of Guldenhorf and married Naruto to finalise the alliance between the nations. Of course Tiffania also married Naruto, as his master and lover she was the one that was always by his side and refused to leave despite their still being some lingering fear of her from the humans of this world. However after so many centuries of staying away from each other, humans only had their engraved fear of the unknown which was being swept away by Tiffania's presence in their society. It would take years and the religious faction would fight him every step of the way but Naruto promised her that he would create a better world for both humans and elves.

In Tristain, Saito de Hiraga des Ornieres was granted a portion of land to call his own by Queen Henrietta for services to Tristain. After settling into their new house (and the discovery of a hidden room with a certain magical mirror) Louise finally relented to her queen's request and allowed Saito to grant her an heir and marry her. Following this, Saito became the recognized king of Tristain though there were still some factions of the nobility that didn't like the idea of a 'commoner' sitting on the throne but they were a minor irritation. With the likes of General Guichi de Gramont, his wife Montmorency and the Knights of Undine whom were recognized as the personal guards of Queen Henrietta backing him, the nobility were annoyance instead of a threat to his rule.

Five years later...

"A monument?" Saito asked as the two familiars-turned-kings sat down at his mansion's dining table. "To the last war?"

"I was thinking we should build it on the border like Uzushio," Naruto explained. "The students capable of Doton could help and this might an opportunity to improve their skills."

"Guichi seemed to agree otherwise he wouldn't have asked Malicorne to calculate the exact cost for something like this," Saito nodded as he leaned back in his chair.

"We can cut the costs in half if Guichi and a few of the minor nobles helped out. I'm sure the Tristain Academy could supply a few students whom are trying to look good," Naruto reasoned.

"I'd have to talk to Headmaster Colbert," Saito mused as the door to the side opened.

"Master Saito," it was Siesta looking every bit as beautiful as always. "Mistress Louise's carriage has just arrived."

"Thank you Siesta," Saito nodded with a smile before turning back to the blond king opposite him. "It looks like we'll have to call this meeting short," he said as he stood.

"Its fine," Naruto waved it off as he followed suit. "How is Lady Louise these days?"

"With child," Saito replied as the two entered the corridor.

"Congratulations," Naruto grinned at the news.

"We just found out last week," Saito nodded back with a smile of his own. "We have been trying for over a year now so we were beginning to worry that something might be wrong."

"Well, I'm happy for you both," Naruto told him before he grimaced. "Though I have to warn you, I suggest you keep her wand away from her from now on or she really will kill you."

"Yeah," Saito nodded. "I learned how scary pregnant women can be after Henrietta threatened to castrate me."

"You think she's scary, at least she wasn't threatening to use ice swords like Charlotte did with me," Naruto shivered at the memory. "I was honestly considering asking Tiffa to erase my memory of it all after it happened."

"What about Tiffania?" Saito asked since he knew that the two already had three children.

"I don't remember," Naruto replied calmly.

"...Oh."

* * *

And so the years passed as peace reigned for a time, but the nature of humans is a volatile thing. Eventually there would be war again however that is another story for another time; in the end it seemed that 'Madara' didn't make it to Halkegenia in their lifetime. As the years passed, Naruto and Saito together with their loved ones brought about the first true peace between humans and elves that the world had ever known. The centuries passed and these heroic figures of what would later become known as the revolutionary era became legend.

But what happened to the Kyuubi?

Well...

**Elemental Nations: Mountains' Graveyard**

A millennia had passed since his 'apprentice' had failed, damn that Obito! He couldn't do anything right! In the end he had let the Kyuubi slip through his fingers and had even allowed that Uzumaki kid to convert Nagato. He had respected Mito as the strongest Kunoichi of all time and he had known that underestimating the Uzumaki clan was suicidal but even he had never planned for having such a large wrench being thrown into his Moon's Eye Plan. Uchiha Madara was a patient man but even he had limits; he had taken a young and disillusioned Uchiha Obito as his apprentice and the young man had done his job of collecting eight of the Biju. However because of unforeseen circumstances the Kyuubi had escaped thus forcing the _real _Madara to postpone his ascension.

By a thousand years...

It was only thanks to the idiocy and delusions of grandeur that the little upstart Hebi-Sennin had that he was able to return to this impure world in order to try and recover the Kyuubi. Edo Tensei had granted him limited immortality and damn near unlimited chakra though it wasn't powerful enough to complete his plans like the chakra of the Juubi would. After Obito had died of old age, he'd been forced to recover _his_ Rinnegan and keep it in storage until he could locate the Kyuubi.

Now that he had finally located his wayward pet he had again transplanted the Rinnegan on a young descendant of the still scattered Uzumaki clan in preparation for becoming the Juubi Jinchuuriki. Everything was ready, he'd forced the Uzumaki to fully resurrect him with the Gedo: Rinnei Tensei no Jutsu at the cost of the Uzumaki's life. Now all that was left would be to summon _his _Kyuubi and have the Gedo Mazo devour it to trigger the Juubi's resurrection.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu," **Madara spoke clearly as he slammed his palm down on the ground and a large collection of seals spread out across its surface. This was soon followed by an explosion of smoke though to his confusion he didn't feel any kind of demonic chakra. "What is this?" he asked as the smoke cleared to reveal a tall man with blood red hair dressed in old style grey shinobi armour and a sword of some kind strapped to his back. "Who are you?"

"Hello Madara," the man spoke with disgust. "Still trying to play god, huh?"

"...You must be the Kyuubi's current Jinchuuriki," Madara narrowed his eyes when he saw the features the man's face possessed. The red hair was a dead giveaway to the fact that the man was apparently an Uzumaki, couple that with the blood red eyes, slitted demonic pupils and the six whisker-like marks on his face and it was easy to see that this man was a descendant of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki that escaped the Akatsuki War.

It was completely wrong though...

"The first time we met you never did ask my name," the man chuckled darkly. "You called me an unstable force, lacking intelligence or sapience; you said that I required a guide to show me my purpose."

"That's..." Madara trailed off as the words he spoke so long ago echoed through his mind. "It's not possible...you can't be...why are you-".

"Human?" the man laughed. "My last _Jinchuuriki_ unlocked the Rinnegan and at the end of his life he turned me into this in order to both protect me and allow me to blend with the humans."

"Kyuubi," Madara narrowed in his eyes slight anger at yet another surprise. "I told you once before that the Biju are but slaves to those with blessed eyes, **obey."**

"_Damn partner,"_ a voice spoke up from the man's back. _"I know you said he was an ass but I thought you exaggerated a bit,"_ it was a talking sword.

"He hasn't realised that Genjutsu doesn't work on me anymore," the man replied. "I've been waiting for the moment when I can kick his ass for millennia, Derflinger. So please don't interrupt me, I want to enjoy this."

"_Sure thing partner," _Derf replied.

"Uchiha Madara," the man spoke clearly as he drew the sentient blade. "Listen well because I'm going to say this once you delusional _human; _my name is Kurama and I am the strongest of the nine Biju. You won't be leaving here alive or dead because once I'm through with you, not even the Shinigami is going to want anything to do with you."

**Author's Notes:**

I'm ending it here on a cliff-hanger because at this point both Naruto and Saito (being the main characters) are no longer alive and as such this story has reached an end. I wanted to leave it like it started with both Madara and Kurama facing each other showing that Kurama no longer belongs to Madara after Mito to him from Madara. As for the notable difference in Kurama's character, please remember it has been roughly nine hundred years since he was released from Naruto and was given a human form so I think his personality could change a bit in that length of time. I hope you all enjoyed this and though it had a few problems I'm glad I wrote it.

_**Translation**_

Hebi-Senninn = Snake Sage  
Edo Tensei = Impure World Resurrection  
Gedo: Rinnei Tensei no Jutsu = Samsara of Heavenly Life  
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…


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